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| NC’s Srinagar dilemma between Farooq, Salman Sagar | | Shariq fielded in North; Musatafa Kamal, Yasin are assembly candidates | |
AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
SRINAGAR, Apr 13: National Conference (NC) has finally declared Salman Sagar and Sharief-ud-din Shariq as the party candidates for the Lok Sabha constituencies of Srinagar-Budgam and Baramulla-Kupwara even as Dr Mustafa Kamal and Mohammad Yasin Shah have been picked up as the candidates for Assembly by-election respectively in Hazratbal and Sonwar segments. However, in view of a serious challenge coming from the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the nomination of the influential Shia cleric Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, NC’s superman Dr Farooq Abdullah would also jump into the fray in the all-important Srinagar-Budgam as his party has decided to select one among him and Salman Sagar on the last day of withdrawal of nominations on April 22.
NC President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today declared that his party had simultaneously selected himself and Mayor of Srinagar, Salman Sagar, as the nominees for the Lok Sabha constituency of Srinagar-Budgam. He said that both would file their nomination papers for this Central Kashmir constituency and the party would pick up one among them as the candidate before withdrawal of nominations on April 22. He said that Sharief-ud-din Shariq had got NC’s ticket for the North Kashmir (Lok Sabha) constituency of Baramulla-Kupwara. Dr Abdullah revealed that Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamal and Mohammad Yasin Shah had been selected as NC’s candidates respectively for Hazratbal and Sonwar Assembly segments.
Early Times had exclusively reported in Monday’s issue that Salman Sagar and Sharief-ud-din Shariq would be declared as NC’s candidates for Srinagar-Budgam and Baramulla-Kupwara respectively while as Dr Mustafa Kamal and Mohammad Yasin Shah would be getting the party’s mandate respectively for Assembly segments of Hazratbal and Sonwar. As reported, Dr Abdullah announced the names of his party’s candidates at a crowded new conference at the NC’s headquarters of Nawa-e-Subah at 1130 hours today.
Dr Abdullah said that, according to a decision taken by his party, he as well as Salman Sagar would be filing their nomination papers in Srinagar-Budgam. He said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would subsequently pick up the candidate of his choice among the two nominations before last date for withdrawal of papers on April 22. Asked why he had been nominated even after his election for a Rajya Sabha seat, following his twin victory in recent Assembly elections from Hazratbal and Sonwar segments, Dr Abdullah said that he was the party’s first choice for all these elections. He said that in case he contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Central Kashmir, NC would send one of its leaders as his replacement in the Rajya Sabha.
“I have been fighting (the elections) and I shall continue to fight it till my last breath”, he asserted.
Appreciating senior separatist leader Sajjad Gani Lone’s decision of contesting the current Lok Sabha elections in Kashmir, Dr Abdullah described it as a positive development that the Peoples Conference Chairman had finally adopted the democratic medium to represent his followers and do something good for them. Heimplored all other Kashmiri separatist leaders to take a cue from Sajjad Lone and participate in the current Lok Sabha elections.
Dr Abdullah said that over two decades ago, Kashmiris had raised the slogan of “Double Farooq” (an alliance between Dr Abdullah and then Awami Action Committee Chairman, Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, supported by former Prime Minister and top Congress leader, Rajiv Gandhi in 1986-87). “Now, I wish the slogan of “Double Omar” (a hypothetical alliance between Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Awami Action Committee top leader and Chairman of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, to be supported by Sonia Gandhi’s Congress party) come up in my lifetime”, he said.
According to him, forces inimical to peace and progress in Jammu & Kashmir had been creating wedge after wedge between the Kashmiris to keep them divided. He asserted that his “Double Farooq” slogan was a “befitting reply” to such forces. “Farooq Abdullah is still alive and he has the vision and spirit to fail the enemies (of the people of Jammu & Kashmir)”, he asserted.
Dr Abdullah wished early resumption of the Indo-Pakistan composite dialogue that had suffered jolt after jolt due to the terrorist strikes in Mumbai on November 26th last year. He believed that the issues and disputes between the two neighboring countries could be resolved only through dialogue.
With a reference to NC’s political Bible of ‘Greater Autonomy’, Dr Abdullah said that his party would agitate the matter of the state’s special status in the Parliament as it had an unflinching commitment to that cause. He claimed that abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, that guarantees special status to J&K State, would be impossible for any government and party.
Meanwhile, Returning Officer for Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha seat and DC Srinagar, Meraj Ahmed Kakru, told Early Times that one set of nomination form had been issued on Saturday after the notification was issued for the polling of May 7th. He said that on account of gazetted holidays, nomination forms could neither be issued nor accepted on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. According to him, this process could be conducted on all working days from 1100 hours to 1500 hours till last date of filing of nomination on April 18th.
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