No Abdullahs in First List of NC Candidates for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Polls
NEW DELHI: The names of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his father Farooq Abdullah and uncle Mustafa Kamal are missing from the first list of 32 candidates released by J&K’s ruling National Conference (NC) for State Assembly elections, scheduled to be held later this year.
“NCs Parliamentary Board met under the chairmanship of party’s working president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today at party headquarters on the approval of the president Farooq Abdullah,” a spokesman of NC said.
He said the board discussed for three hours, the panels of candidates received from the block and the district committees of the party.
After marathon deliberations, the party declared the list of 32 candidates and decided to meet later this week to discuss the other seats.
The list of 32 includes 19 candidates for Kashmir, 12 for Jammu division and one for Ladakh region.
Barring nine sitting MLAs including ones from Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Zadibal and Sonawar, the party has given mandate to all its sitting legislators in the first list.
The 10 ministers of NC have been given mandate.
The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had contested 2008 elections from Ganderbal constituency and his uncle Mustafa Kamal, who had won bye-polls from Hazratbal constituency are missing from the first list. Peer Afaq and Yasin Shah, party’s sitting MLAs from Zadibal and Sonawar seats respectively are also missing from the first list.
NC’s party president Farooq Abdullah, who lost parliamentary elections from prestigious Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha seat, also does not figure in the first list of candidates released by the party. Farooq, according to party sources, would be NC’s chief ministerial candidates for the Assembly elections, which will be held later this year.
There are speculations that Farooq may contest from Ganderbal and Omar may contest either from Hazratbal or Sonawar constituencies.
The NC candidates whom mandate has been given includes Irfan Ahmad Shah (Batamaloo), Mubarak Gul (Eidgah); Nasir Aslam Wani (Amira Kadal), Shamima Firdous (Habba Kadal), Ali Muhammad Sagar (Khanyar), Abdur Rahim Rather (Charar-e-Sharif), Aga Syed Rohulla (Budgam), Mian Altaf (Kangan), Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri (Bijbehara), Abdul Majeed (Homeshalibugh), Sakina Itoo (Noorabad), Muhammad Ashraf Bhat (Tral), Showkat Ahmad Ganai (Wachi), Javed Ahmad Dar (Rafiabad), Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurez), Muhammad Akbar Lone (Sonawari), Mir Saifullah (Kupwara), Qaiser Jamsheed Lone (Lolab), Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan (Handwara), Sajad Kichloo (Kishtwar), Aijaz Jan (Poonch-Haveli), Abdul Gani Malik (Ghulab Garh), Surjit Singh Salathia (Vijaypur), Ajay Kumar Sadhotra (Marh), Radhay Sham Sharma (Nowshehra), Javed Ahmad Rana (Mendhar), Rashpal Singh (Kalakote), Dharamveer Singh Jamwal (Jammu West), Jagjeevan Lal (Raesi), Ramesh Motton (RS Pura), Chodhri Liyaqat (Darhaal) and Tsetan Namgyal (Nobra).