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| Omer takes second chance at Ganderbal | | Quiet debate in NC on leadership | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 2: A quiet debate is though on within the rank and file of leadership issue –between Abdullah senior and junior – but one thing is clear that Omar Abdullah will take a second chance at family’s pocket-borough of Ganderbal where he faced the shock of life in 2002 assembly elections.
National Conference President Omar Abdullah will tomorrow file his nomination papers from the prestigious Ganderbal assembly constituency in the valley going to polls on November 23 in the second of the seven phased elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The name of 38-year-old Omar was cleared by the party's election monitoring committee, putting an end to an intense speculation over whether or not he would contest from this assembly seat.
Omar had suffered a setback in the Ganderbal constituency in the valley, considered a National Conference bastion, when he lost to PDP candidate Qazi Afzal in 2002 assembly polls.
For Omar, his happiness after getting the nomination knew no bounds. "My people were angry with me last time. But over the years, they have seen my work, my programmes and the progress of the area.
"I am sure this time they will give me an opportunity to serve them. After all, the misrule of previous government is an open secret," Omar said.
The National Conference chief says he wants to pick up the threads from where they were left. "Well, some rumours were being floated that I will move away from Ganderbal, but it is not possible. They are my people. They punished me for my faults, now they might reward me for the successes," he said.
Poll notification for the second phase was announced on October 29 with the last date of nomination being on November five. The Ganderbal assembly seat will go to polls on November 23 along with six other constituencies.
Meanwhile, with elections being in full swing, leaders of the National Conference are trying one again to determine who will be the best leader — the father, Farooq Abdullah or the son, Omar Abdullah — if they come to power if they come to power.
Although the NC leadership has nominated Farooq Abdullah as its chief ministerial candidate, a debate has already started, though it is not on surface that the time has finally come when the baton should be passed on to the next generation.
In 2002, Omar was NC's nominee for the chief minister's post but six-years-later the party is banking on experience, though Omar says he is too young at 38 to be a state head, his father is getting no younger at 74. Opinion in the party is clearly divided.
"Farooq Sahib has the experience which we need for some time, '' said senior NC leader Sadiq Ali. While some feel that it's the experince that will carry the party forward, others feel that it's the generation next which has the energy to carry the party into the future. |
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