Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
The noise of campaigning on 26 seats of the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will stop on Monday evening. At this stage, all eyes are on National Conference leader and former CM Omar Abdullah. Omar Abdullah, who lost the Lok Sabha elections at the hands of independent engineer Rashid, has entered the Assembly elections with a backup plan. Omar Abdullah is also contesting from Budgam Assembly seat with his traditional Ganderbal. Although the BJP has given him a walkover on both the seats, Omar Abdullah is stuck in a political quagmire.
Omar Abdullah is trying his luck from the Ganderbal assembly seat, where Omar’s grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah have been MLAs. This time the election contest in Ganderbal seat is totally different. Bashir Ahmed Mir from PDP, Qaiser Sultan Ghani from Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and Qazi Mubishar Farooq from Apni Party have made the contest very interesting against Omar.
Eight candidates on Budgam seat
Along with Ganderbal assembly seat, Omar Abdullah is also trying his luck from Budgam seat. Eight candidates are in the fray for the Budgam seat, considered a traditional seat of the National Conference. Former Chief Minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah will contest from this seat for the first time. PDP has fielded prominent Shia leader and son of former Hurriyat leader Agha Syed Muntajir to challenge Omar Abdullah. Abdullah is backed by Agha Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, who has won three terms from Budgam and is a respected Shia leader who wields considerable influence in the constituency. MP Mehdi has been involved in Budgam politics for a long time.
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Lost in Lok Sabha against Engineer Rashid
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Omar Abdullah was defeated by jailed separatist leader Engineer Rashid from the Baramulla seat. The defeat in the Lok Sabha elections was a major political blow to Omar Abdullah. So, he has made a backup plan by contesting in two seats, but in Budgam and Ganderbal seats, the opposition has fielded strong candidates and strongly besieged Omar Abdullah. Though the BJP has not fielded any candidate on both the seats, it is supporting a candidate who is contesting strongly against Omar.
Challenged on both assembly seats
Omar Abdullah is facing tough challenge in both Budgam and Ganderbal assembly seats. Jailed separatist leader Sarjan Ahmed Wage alias Maulana Sarjan Barkati has made the race interesting by contesting the Ganderbal seat. Barakati’s supporters and his daughter Sugara took charge of his father’s campaign. Along with PDP’s Bashir Ahmed Mir, DPAP’s Qaiser Sultan Ghani and his own party’s Qazi Mubishar Farooq, Omar Abdullah will also face Barakti.
The road to victory will not be easy
Despite Abdullah’s strong support, political experts believe that his path to victory this time will not be easy. To save his prestige, Umar first chose Ganderbal, but the tactics of his opponents forced him to fight from Budgam as well. Omar Abdullah lost this seat in the 2002 elections, but won it in 2008 and became the CM. Agha Syed Muntajir enjoys considerable support in Budgam due to his father’s deep influence in the Shia community in Budgam.
NC captured the Budgam seat
The National Conference has been holding the Budgam seat since 1977, barring the 1972 assembly elections. NC leaders like Syed Ghulam Hussain Geelani and Agha Syed Ruhullah Mehdi have collectively secured seven wins for the party. A four-time winner, Gilani defeated his main rivals in the 1977, 1983, 1987 and 1996 elections. Following in his footsteps, Agha Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has managed to win this seat three times consecutively in 2002, 2008 and 2014. In such a situation, all eyes are on Budgam to see if Omar Abdullah can continue NC’s decades-old dominance or break PDP’s Agha Syed Muntajir’s winning streak.
Fight for dignity
The Ganderbal assembly seat, considered the stronghold of the Abdullah family, has become a prestige battle for Omar Abdullah. How Omar Abdullah is fighting for the Ganderbal seat can be gauged from the fact that he made an emotional appeal to the people while filing his nomination. He took off his hat and holding it in his palm, urged the people to vote for him and said that their honor was in their (people’s) hands. Not only this, Umar’s son has also made all efforts to win over his father.
Facing the challenge of being an outsider
PDP’s Bashir Ahmed Mir has contested assembly elections twice from the neighboring Kangan seat but this time he is contesting from Ganderbal. Mir is a hero to the local population of Ganderbal district, as he has rescued many people from the Sindh river and helped the police in such rescue operations many times. In such a situation Omar Abdullah is facing the challenge of being an outsider. Jabbar, who is contesting as an independent, has also made it the main issue of his campaign. The election battle has become more exciting as jailed cleric Sarjan Wage, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati, and Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party candidate Sheikh Ashiq have entered the fray.
