Omar Abdullah removes his cap in emotional appeal ahead of J&K polls: ‘My honour in your hands’

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah made an emotional appeal to the people of Ganderbal on Wednesday, saying, “My turban and my honour are in your hands.”

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister filed his nomination from the Ganderbal constituency for the upcoming assembly polls. While addressing a public gathering, Omar was seen removing his skull cap and asking for the people's support.

“Today, I will say only one thing - my turban, my honour, and this cap are in your hands,” Omar said. However, the crow responded, saying he didn't have to remove the cap from his head.

Omar Abdullah, who usually addresses public gatherings in Urdu, spoke in Kashmiri and appealed with folded hands. “Give me a chance. I appeal to Ganderbal with folded hands that give me an opportunity and I will serve you and represent you,” Omar said.

Why is Omar Abdullah contesting from Ganderbal?

Ganderbal is seen as a stronghold for the National Conference, having elected three generations of the Abdullah family. NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah won the seat in 1977, followed by his son Farooq Abdullah, who secured victories in 1983, 1987, and 1996. Omar Abdullah was later elected from the constituency in 2008.

In 2014, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar won the Ganderbal seat on a National Conference ticket. Prior to that, he had contested more than two elections unsuccessfully on a Congress ticket.

Abdullah was accompanied by senior party leaders and his sons, submitted his nomination papers to the returning officer at the mini-secretariat.

This marks Abdullah’s return to the constituency he represented from 2009 to 2014 as chief minister of the NC-Congress coalition government.

In the 2014 assembly elections, he won from the Beerwah seat in central Kashmir's Budgam district but was defeated in the Sonwar seat in Srinagar by then PDP leader Mohammad Ashraf Mir.

Both the National Conference and Congress have entered into a seat-sharing agreement for all 90 assembly seats in the Union Territory.

As per the seat-sharing pact, the National Conference will contest 51 seats and Congress 32, with a friendly contest on five seats. Two additional seats have been reserved for allies, CPI(M) and the National Panthers Party.