Srinagar: The ruling National Conference carried out its maiden rejig in the party after forming the government last month, appointing its top loyalist to the top post in Kashmir.
Showkat Ahmad Mir, a former bureaucrat who formally entered politics after his retirement in 2013, has been entrusted with the position of party’s provincial president in the valley.
He replaced Nasir Aslam Wani, who was appointed as an advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after he assumed the charge last month.
This aligns with the party’s commitment to adopting a “one-man one-post” policy without losing grip of its turf in Kashmir.
A close confidante of the Abdullah family, Wani is known workaholic and steered the party for more than a decade. The party won two seats in Lok Sabha elections and secured 37 seats from Kashmir under the helm of Wani this year.
A law graduate, Mir worked in Wani's team as a provincial secretary and has access to both the party president Farooq Abdullah and CM Omar Abdullah.
Several leaders revealed that Abdullahs did not want to see any weakness in the party while they were in power, with the past weighing heavily on their minds. In the 2014 election, the party suffered a major blow and was knocked out of power due to several key factors, including a lack of connection with workers behind the defeat.
Mir said that his focus is to strengthen the weak areas and prepare the party for all formats of elections, including the long overdue urban local bodies. Both panchayat and civic body polls have been pending since last year after their respective terms expired, with the process underway for electoral revision.
“We will rejuvenate the party as Nasir Aslam Sahib was assigned bigger responsibility,” he told ETV Bharat. “We can’t leave the party unattended. Our cadre should remain intact. Our strength is our workers and our people, and we will reach out to them and address their issues.”
Mir’s to-do list includes finding the reason for the loss of some seats and alliance candidates in the recently concluded legislative assembly polls in the valley. Out of the 47 seats in Kashmir, the party received a massive mandate with 37 seats, with the key poll planks including the restoration of Article 370 and statehood.
The party kept its election promise by passing two resolutions—one on statehood in its maiden cabinet meeting last month and now the resolution on special status in the first session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Besides Mir, Dr Sajad Shahi Uri was appointed as zonal president of the north zone and Advocate Shahid Ali Shah as district president of Baramulla.
“We extend our best wishes to them, confident in their ability to lead with dedication and drive and to continue the party’s momentum forward,” tweeted the NC on X.
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