Omar staying away from Assembly polls, Farooq Abdullah likely to be party’s CM face in J&K
SRINAGAR: With former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah not contesting the Assembly polls in the Union Territory, veteran leader Farooq Abdullah is likely to be the CM candidate of the National Conference. The Assembly polls are expected to be held next year.
Abdullah, 85, a three-time former CM who is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, recently announced his decision to step down as the NC president after remaining at the helm of the party for 34 years. He, however, announced that he would contest the Assembly polls whenever they are held.
It is a change of strategy on the part of senior Abdullah, who had last contested Assembly elections in J&K in 2008. His son Omar, who is NC’s vice president, has already announced that he would not fight the Assembly polls in J&K until the restoration of its statehood. PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti too has said that she will not contest till statehood is restored.
Both the NC and PDP are part of the Gupkar Alliance, which also comprises CPI, CPM and ANC. It will be interesting to see if Abdullah emerges as a CM candidate of the Alliance. Omar, meanwhile, is tipped to take over as the new NC president, the elections for which will be held on December 5.
Now, it is expected that senior Abdullah would be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the first-ever Assembly polls in J&K after it was made a Union Territory in 2019. Farooq, who was the CM from 1996 to 2002, did not contest the polls in 2002, and his son Omar was projected as the CM candidate. However, the NC lost, and the PDP and Congress formed a coalition government in the erstwhile state.
In 2008, Farooq contested the polls from Sonawar and won. However, on the insistence of Sonia Gandhi, Omar became the CM of the NC-Congress coalition government and his rule continued until 2014. In 2014, PDP and BJP, which had fought against each other, formed the government. J&K is under direct central rule since June 2018, when PDP-BJP government collapsed after BJP withdrew support.