Omar gives up family bastion, to contest polls from 2 constituencies

Rather than contesting the state elections from Ganderbal, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister will be contesting the state elections from Sonwar and Beerwah, reports Mukhtar Ahmad.

Ending all speculation, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will contest the state assembly polls from two constituencies, Sonwar in capital Srinagar and Beerwah in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

The decision was made by National Conference’s general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, as he issued the fourth list of 22 candidates for the assembly elections.

“The parliamentary board under the chairmanship of the working president Omar Abdullah cleared a list of 22 candidates, 15 candidates for Kashmir region and seven candidates for Jammu region,” Sagar said while talking to newsmen at the party headquarters on Friday.

It will also be the first time that a NC chief ministerial candidate will not be contesting from the traditional Ganderbal seat, which has been represented in the past by Omar’s grandfather and father -- Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Dr. Farooq Abdullah, respectively – since 1977.

The party has won this seat all through except for the 2002 elections when Omar lost it to Peoples Democratic Party’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal. Omar, however, again recaptured the constituency in 2008 after he won the seat, defeating Qazi.

However, the party has seen a shrinking support base in Ganderbal in recent years forcing Omar to abandon the constituency and contest elections outside of the family’s electoral bastion.

Locals in Ganderbal say that the constituency was neglected by Omar after he became the state chief minister.

The party has decided to field the son of a former National Conference loyalist, Sheikh Ashfaq Jabbar from Ganderbal.

Elections are being held in five phases in the state spanning a month and come in the wake of floods that devastated summer capital Srinagar and other areas of the state.