news details |
|
|
| Omar, Farooq, Kamaal undecided about contesting Assembly elections | | |
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, July 24: Having just released its second list of candidates, National Conference is still in a state of confusion with nobody in the party knowing whether the star constestants---Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah---would be contesting the upcoming Assembly elections or not. Dr Abdullah's decision not to contest the elections became public late today.
As of now, according to the party insiders, Farooq Abdullah has no intention of contesting the elections. Much more than his failing health, Dr Abdullah is reportedly anxious as he has been left with no safe seat in entire State of Jammu and Kashmir. "Once upon a time, a scion of the Sheikh dynasty could win elections from any segment in the Valley, even in a vast belt in Jammu. Things have completely changed before and after the recent Lok Sabha elections in which PDP got lead on 39 out of 46 segments in Assembly while as the ruling NC led in just five segments. We don't have a single safe seat today", said an NC leader who has contested and won several elections.
In Handwara and Langate, Peoples Conference leader Sajjad Lone and independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, respectively, established the lead. With the upper margin in two seats in Jammu, PDP in a way won from 41 segments against NC's 5.
For the NC, the most surprising results came in from the insurmountable Abdul Rahim Rather's Chrar Sharief, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's Ganderbal, veteran Gujjar leader Mian Altaf's Kangan, Sakeena Itoo's Noorabad, Choudhary Ramzan's Handwara and Saifullah Mir's Kupwara.
According to the insiders, Omar himself is not inclined to contesting the elections as, for him, a possible defeat could demoralize his cadres. With a miserable performance in Ganderbal, NC is now toying with the idea of fielding its acting President in Sonwar. "When we insisted the party should nominate its Chief Ministerial candidate and make it clear who of the Sheikh family would be contesting the elections, we were asked: Who will run the campaign in all 87 seats?", another senior NC leader said.
Since the day of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah's return to power in 1975, Ganderbal has been bthe traditional safest seat for the NC, though Omar lost to PDP's Qazi Afzal in 2002. Sheikh Abdullah contested and won two elections from Ganderbal in 1975 and 1977. His successor son Farooq Abdullah contested and won from Ganderbal in 1983, 1987 and 1996. Omar lost in 2002 but won in 2008. Today Ganderbal is retaining the unenviable tag of being the most anarchical segment for the NC. With the Congress leader Sheikh Ashfaq's entry, almost all the senior NC leaders have disassociated themselves from the party in Ganderbal.
Dr Abdullah's younger brother Mustafa Kamal has contested and won the elections from Tangmarg, Pattan and Hazratbal. He is reportedly laying his claim on Tangmarg where the retired KAS officer and Deputy Commissioner of Ganderbal Showkat Ahmad Mir was a strong contender for the ticket. Party sources say that even Dr Kamal is still undecided as he does not want to contest from Hazratbal or Pattan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
