Srinagar: With the stage set for the second phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, all eyes will be on Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who is contesting from two seats of Budgam and Ganderbal. Twenty-six assembly constituencies in Srinagar, Budgam, Gandberbal, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi are slated for elections in the second phase.
In addition to the Budgam and Ganderbal seats, Chanapora, Shalteng and Beerwah assembly segments will be sought after. In Chanapora, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari is contesting against National Conference candidate Mushtaq Guroo. Sarjan Barkati, the jailed cleric from Shopian, is contesting from Beerwah and Ganderbal assembly segment, where he is pitted against Omar Abdullah.
Omar led a high-voltage campaign in Ganderbal and Budgam as he did not want to take any risk or be complacent after his defeat by Engineer Rashid in the Parliamentary elections. Ganderbal has been the bastion of the Sheikh family as the NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah would contest elections from there.
Omar Abdullah also successfully contested his 2008 assembly elections from Ganderbal, defeating Qazi Afzal of the Peoples Democratic Party. He later became the chief minister and headed the NC-Congress coalition government from 2008-2014.
In the 2014 assembly elections, Omar left the seat for Ishfaq Jabbar which the latter won. Ishfaq left the NC in 2022 and is now contesting as an independent against Omar Abdullah from Ganderbal.
The Ganderbal seat will see a multilateral contest between Omar, Sarjan Barkati, Ishfaq Jabbar, businessman Sheikh Ashiq, who is contesting on Engineer Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) ticket, and PDP's Bashir Ahmad Mir. Mir is originally from the Kangan assembly segment. In the 2014 elections, he lost to NC's veteran Gujjar leader Mian Altaf by 1400 votes. Kangan has been reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) population, so Mir could not contest from the seat. He is trying his luck from Ganderbal.
In Budgam, Omar is banking on the Shia Muslim voters courtesy of NC MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi. Aga family has strong religious and emotional support among the Budgam Shia population as it considers the family as their spiritual and political guide.
However, a young scion of Aga clan, Aga Muntazir Mehdi, is contesting against Omar from Budgam. Muntazir in his 30s is a law graduate and banks on his father, Aga Syed Hassan Mosavi's followers. Aga Hassan is a prominent Shia leader and President of the Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Sharie Shian Association. He was part of the separatist Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Omar's contest is bolstered by the support of Apni Party chief spokesperson Muntazir Mohidin, who has declared his support for the NC vice president. Muntazir contested from Budgam seat in 2014 and got 28000 votes. His support may flip the Sunni Muslim voters towards Omar Abdullah.
In Srinagar's Chanapora, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari is contesting against NC candidate Mushtaq Guroo. Guroo is the political advisor of NC president Farooq Abdullah. Guroos run the car business in the Kashmir valley under the brand name "Shuhul" automobiles. They have years of family friendship with Farooq and Omar.
Political observers say that while Altaf Bukhari ran a consistent door-to-door campaign in Chanapora, Guroo also ran his campaign since his nomination. They say Farooq and Omar too did not campaign for Guroo which was baffling.
Political opponents especially PDP questioned the support of Apni Party's Muntazir Mohidin to Omar Abdullah in Budgam and the absence of the Abdullahs in Guroo's campaigning. This constituency will see a contest between Valley's three businessmen as PDP has fielded hotelier Iqbal Tramboo from there.
In Budgam's Beerwah, NC candidate Dr Muhammad Shafi is locked in a direct contest with jailed cleric Sarjan Barkati. Barkati's daughter Sugra and his son Azan have been running an election campaign for their jailed father, banking on the emotional support of voters hoping to repeat what Engineer Rashid did in the Baramulla parliamentary segment. In the 2014 assembly polls, Omar Abdullah won from Beerwah by defeating PDP's Nazir Khan. Khan is contesting as an independent this time. Engineer Rashid's AIP has also fielded its candidate from the segment.
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hammed Karra is contesting from the Shalteng assembly segment of Srinagar. He is the alliance candidate of NC and Congress. However, Karra is locked in a direct battle with an NC rebel Irfan Shah, who is contesting as independent after he was denied the ticket.
During the campaigning for the elections, NC leaders Farooq and Omar did not join Karra. His morale was bolstered by the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he addressed a big Congress workers rally in Zainakote on Monday. However, Omar and Farooq did not join Rahul in the rally, and their absence indicated a tacit support to Shah.
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