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| With apologies to people, Omar challenges ‘Qazi’ of Ganderbal | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 3: Politicians being apologetic is something unheard of. But National Conference President Omar Abdullah has begun with a public apology as he challenges Qazi Mohammad Afzal of the Peoples Democratic Party to restore to the Abdullah dynasty its prestigious pocket-borough of Ganderbal.
Omar Abdullah today filed his nomination papers for Ganderbal assembly constituency where he had lost to Qazi Mohammad Afzal in 2002. Centeral Kashmir’s Ganderbal constituency goes to polls Nov 23 in the second phase of the seven-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Since 1977, this constituency has been held by his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and then Dr Farooq Abdullah till 2002 when baton was passed to Omar Abdullah. Importance of Ganderbal for Abdullah dynasty is highly symbolic and it can also be viewed through a statement of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq who, on Omar’s defeat in 2002, had commented, “it is like me being thrown out of the Jamia Masjid”.
After filing nomination papers, Omar said, “I want to prove to the people of Ganderbal that I am back with lessons on the mistakes for which we were punished in 2002 elections”. Omar’s honest admission of “mistakes” has set a new precedence in politics. He said, “I will strive to make Ganderbal a model constituency of the country”.
The PDP, after much debate and suspense, once again cleared Qazi’s name as the party’s candidate from the constituency. As Forest Minister in the previous Congress-PDP coalition government, Qazi had received much flak for the allotment of 40 hectares of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board that manages the two-month-long Amarnath pilgrimage.
The crisis had snowballed into massive protests and saw the withdrawal of the PDP support to the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led coalition government, eventually leading to its fall in July for want of majority in the 87-member legislative assembly.
The NC is, however, confident of Abdullah's victory this time. “Omar Abdullah will emerge victorious with an overwhelming vote from Ganderbal,” said Gulam Ahmad Saloora, NC’s provincial secretary here.
While a low voter turnout still remains a big worry for mainstream political parties, especially the NC, Abdullah, by deciding to contest from Ganderbal, wants to re-establish himself in the constituency that has been represented by his father Farooq Abdullah and Grandfather Sheikh Abdullah in the past.
The total electorate registered for 2008 elections from this constituency is 77,616. of these, 39,982 are male and 37,634 female voters. The number of polling stations to be established for 2008 elections is 79 as against 69 in 2002 elections. The number of voters in the constituency in 2002 was 68,402.
The constituency was represented by Qazi Mohammad Afzal of PDP in 2002 elections. He won the seat defeating his NC rival Mr. Omar Abdullah by a margin of 2,870 votes. Mr. Qazi secured 11,622 votes as compared to 8,752 polled by Mr. Abdullah. The total number of votes polled was 24,081. The poll percentage was 35.20.
Ganderbal constituency was represented by Mr. Ghulam Ahmad Sofi of NC in 1957. Mr. Abdul Salam Aitu, again of NC, was elected in 1962. While Mr. Mohammad Maqbool Bhat won this seat as a Congress candidate in 1967, he again won from Ganderbal in 1972 on NC ticket. Mr. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of NC was elected from this constituency in 1977. In 1983, 1987 and 1996 Assembly elections, this constituency was represented by Dr. Farooq Abdullah. |
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