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| Battle begins for three vacant assembly seats | | Bhaderwah going polls going polls on Apr 23, Sonawar, Hazratbal on May 7 | |
ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
Jammu, March 10: Along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections a fresh political showdown between ruling coalition and the opposition parties is about to begin in Jammu and Kashmir as the Election Commission of India has rolled out schedule for election to three vacant seats of the state Legislative Assembly.
Sonwar and Hazratbal seats in Srinagar were won in 2008 elections by National Conference President Farooq Abdullah and fell vacant early last month upon his election to the Rajya Sabha. Similarly, the Bhaderwah seat in Doda district was won by Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and fell vacant upon his election to the Rajya Sabha.
According to the Election Commission schedule released today, the election in Bhaderwah constituency will be held April 23, while Srinagar’s Hazratbal and Sonawar constituencies will go for polls May 7. The by-elections will have the same schedule as for the relevant parliamentary constituency, the Election Commission said. The counting will be held May 16.
Partners in ruling coalition, the National Conference and the Congress have already declared to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections in alliance. National Conference will go on two seats, which it has vacated, and the Congress will contest only Bhaderwah seat. While Bhaderwah is a seen as a safe bastion for the Congress, the National Conference had won the Sonawar seat with a wafer thin margin and Hazratbal after a tough competition. The Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is planning to make all out efforts to open its account in Srinagar City by winning at least one of the two seats there.
Farooq Abdullah had won the Sonawar seat by a thin margin of less than 100 votes from Ghulam Qadir Pardesi of the Peoples Democratic Party. His margin was significant in Hazratbal where defeated PDP candidate Asea, who happens to be sister in law of the former Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra. In Bhaderwah, Ghulam Nabi Azad secured a staggering 38000 votes making all others in the fray to loose their security deposits.
Sources said that the National Conference is all certain to field Mohammad Syed Akhoon in Hazratbal constituency but the opinion is widely split on Sonawar constituency. Akhoon represented Hazratbal in 1996 and then in 2002 but in 2008 he had to opt out of the contest to offer seat to Farooq. Party sources said that Abdullah family member and former Minister Dr Mustafa Kamal is interested in contesting assembly election from Sonawar but NC’s former MLA Mohammad Yaseen Shah is not ready to concede the seat. Yasin had also opted out in 2008 to offer Farooq another safe seat.
In Bhaderwah, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s brother Ghulam Mustafa Azad is reported to have thrown his spanner in the hat and pitched for his candidature to contest there. Azad’s another kin Mohammad Sharief Niaz had won there in 2002 but later vacated his seat in 2006 to pave way for Azad’s election to the Legislative Assembly.
Niaz, who is currently a member of the Legislative Council and has nearly four-year term pending, is also keen to seek re-election from Bhaderwah.
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