Early Times Report
Jammu, May 14: Within days after the Delimitation Commission has submitted its final report, National Conference- the principal opposition party, has kicked started the election campaign for the assembly elections. After holding meetings in Kashmir Valley, the former chief minister, and National Conference vice president of NC, Omar Abdullah reached Poonch on Saturday where he will address a series of meetings in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.
Insiders in the National Conference said that aim of Omar Abdullah’s visit to Poonch-Rajouri was to mobilize the party cadre and retrieve lost ground in this region which was once a stronghold.
In the 2014 assembly elections, out of a total of seven seats in Poonch and Rajouri NC had won only from Mendhar where party candidate Javid Rana had emerged victorious.
The Delimitation Commission in its final report has reserved four seats of Poonch and Rajouri for Scheduled Tribes. Rajouri and Budhal seats of Rajouri district have been reserved for ST while Surankote and Mendhar seats of Poonch are reserved for STs.
Meanwhile, Omar asserted that his party was not ready to accept defeat on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 and vowed to continue the fight.
He criticized claims of BJP leaders about normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to the erstwhile state, saying “except BJP-linked people, everyone else is disappointed”. |
