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| Not contesting election from Ganderbal would mean conceding defeat | | Shaky National Conference | | Rustam
JAMMU, Dec 19: Is National Conference (NC) working president and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah not so sure of his victory in the prestigious Ganderbal Assembly constituency in Kashmir considered to be a pocket borough of the Abdullah family? Is he in search of a safer constituency in the Valley to ensure his victory in the 2014 Assembly elections? These are the two straight questions which political observers put today. In fact, it was the talk of the town today with many political pundits saying that Omar Abdullah is "afraid" of facing the people of the constituency he has been representing since 2009. It was none other than Mustafa Kamaal, Omar Abdullah's uncle, who provided an opportunity to the critics and supporters of the NC working president to ask these questions to find some definite answer.
One report said that the "NC had on Wednesday confirmed that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah won't contest the 2014 Assembly elections from Ganderbal constituency". The report was based on the interview Mustafa Kamaal gave to the local news gathering agency, CNS, on December 18: Mustafa Kamaal not only confirmed that Omar Abdullah won't contest election from the constituency that he at present represents, but also asserted that the view of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) that "Omar Abdullah is scared of facing people in Ganderbal…is totally baseless". "Omar Abdullah provided all sorts of facilities to the people of Ganderbal and the district witnessed tremendous development under his leadership… Any NC candidate has the potential to defeat any stalwart of PDP from Ganderbal," he also said.
One can understand what he said about the bright prospects of the NC in the Ganderbal constituency. After all, it would be too much to expect him saying that the NC has lost the people's confidence in the Chief Minister's constituency. He was within his right to say what he said. But the fact remains that Omar Abdullah, according to Mustafa Kamaal, is not contesting election from the Ganderbal Assembly constituency.
The decision of the NC not to field Omar Abdullah in the Ganderbal constituency means many things. It would mean demoralization among the party workers and supporters. It would also be taken to mean that Omar Abdullah conceded defeat even before facing the electorate. Besides, it would mean a God-sent opportunity for the PDP to create an impression across the Valley that it was his unpopularity in Ganderbal that forced him to change his constituency. To be more precise, the decision of Omar Abdullah to contest election from any constituency in Kashmir other than Ganderbal would further mar the electoral prospects of the NC in the crucial Kashmir Valley. Remember, Omar Abdullah had won the 2008 election by a margin of 8,215 votes. He had got 41.49 per cent of the total votes polled. The PDP had got 8304 votes and the Congress 8077 votes. |
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