| Mehbooba, Mian Altaf file nomination papers | |    |
Early Times Report
Anantnag, Apr 18: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Mian Altaf Ahmad on Thursday filed nomination papers for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat which is going to polls in the third phase of elections on May 7.
Accompanied by several party leaders and hundreds of supporters, Mehbooba arrived at the office of Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Syed Fakhruddin, who is the returning officer for the constituency, to file her papers.
Talking to reporters later, the former chief minister appealed to people not to boycott the polls as “this election is about the assault launched on dignity, identity and resources” of Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Mian Altaf filed his nomination papers as the candidate of the opposition INDIA bloc. Accompanied by NC vice president Omar Abdullah and Congress General Secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Ahmad filed the nomination papers before Deputy Commissioner Anantnag.
Talking to reporters after filing nomination papers, Omar said he was hopeful that Ahmad, the influential Gujjar leader from Kangan in central Kashmir, will emerge victorious. “On behalf of the INDIA bloc, National Conference candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad has submitted his nomination papers to the DC (returning officer). We are hopeful that Mian sahib will emerge victorious. On behalf of NC president Farooq Abdullah, we are very thankful to G A Mir who came here from Delhi especially for this,” the NC vice president said.
Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls in the third phase of elections on May 7. Friday is the last date for filing of nominations in this constituency which was carved out from parts of Anantnag-Pulwama and Jammu-Poonch-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats following delimitation exercise carried out in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.
With the BJP not expected to field a candidate and DPAP withdrawing Ghulam Nabi Azad from the race on Wednesday, a virtual showdown is expected between the PDP president and National Conference’s Gujjar leader Mian Altaf Ahmad.
Azad’s DPAP has fielded Mohammad Saleem Parray while Apni Party has named Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, who also filed his nomination papers on Thursday, as its candidate. | | |
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