Omar Abdullah set to contest J&K polls from NC bastion of Ganderbal

Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah will contest the September 25 assembly elections from Ganderbal in central Kashmir.

Ganderbal is the home turf of the Abdullahs for it has elected three generations of the family in the past four decades. This will be the third time Omar Abdullah will contest from the assembly segment. He lost the seat in 2002 but won it in 2008 and is now hoping to repeat the performance this time.

“Omar has decided to contest from Ganderbal and party workers have been informed about his decision,” said a senior NC leader privy to the details.

Earlier, Omar had said that he would not contest the assembly elections till statehood was restored. He seems to have softened his stance after the Election Commission announced the poll dates. After the announcement, the former CM told reporters in Srinagar: “At a personal level, I don’t want to fight the elections but there is a lot of pressure on my party. I will talk to my colleagues and will reach a final decision.”

“The leaders requested him to lead from the front and he agreed to contest the polls,” said the former NC legislator, requesting anonymity.

Ganderbal assembly segment is a traditional bastion of the NC. In 2014, Sheikh Ishfaq contested on the NC ticket and was elected. He later resigned from the party and formed floated the Kashmir United Movement.

Omar’s grandfather Sheikh Abdullah won Ganderbal seat for the first time in 1977. His son, Farooq Abdullah, won the seat thrice in 1983, 1987 and 1996.

When contacted, NC chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said the political affairs committee (PAC) of the party will decide the seat Omar contests from. “Let the PAC meet decide if, when and where from Omar will contest the assembly polls,” he said.

Omar lost the Baramulla Lok Sabha elections in May to jailed Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh, alias Engineer Rashid, by more than two lakh votes. The defeat was seen as a setback for the NC in north Kashmir.

So far, the NC has released the names of 32 candidates from Jammu and Kashmir. According to the seat-sharing agreement, the party will contest 51 of the 90 segments.

In the list, the NC has given tickets to several former ministers and legislators, including former finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who will contest from Charar-i-Sharief, Ali Mohammad Sager from Khanyar, Mubarak Gul from Eidgah, Nasir Aslam Wani from Kupwara and Mir Saifullah from Tregham.

Elections are being held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1 in Jammu and Kashmir. The results will be declared on October 4.