SRINAGAR: Heads turned when former Jammu and Kashmir CM and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah chose Baramulla over his comfort zone Srinagar. Omar, 53, is pitted against Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Gani Lone, who has the backing of the BJP.
Baramulla is a stronghold of the National Conference but Omar or his father Farooq Abdullah has never contested from here. The Abdullahs have always preferred Srinagar, given their party’s hold in central Kashmir.
Since 1971, NC has won Baramulla nine times, the Congress twice, and the PDP once. In 2019, NC’s Mohammad Akbar Lone won by over 30,000 votes, beating PC’s Raja Aijaz Ali, who polled over 1 lakh votes.
The stakes are high this time as the LS poll outcome will set the tone for the Assembly polls later this year. Also, the political scenario has changed considerably since Article 370 was read down in 2019.
Both Omar and Sajad are pitching for restoration of 370.
Baramulla covers four districts—Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora (north Kashmir), and Budgam (central Kashmir)—covering 18 Assembly segments. Omar enjoys support in all four districts as NC has cadre everywhere, while Sajad’s support base is primarily in Kupwara.
Sajad, 57, is a militancy victim as his father Abdul Gani Lone was assassinated. He was a minister in Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP-BJP coalition government on the BJP quota. After that government’s fall in June 2018 and the abrogation of Article 370 a year later, Sajad’s Peoples Conference emerged as a strong political force in north Kashmir with former legislators, mostly from PDP joining the party. Besides, Sajad has got the backing of Apni Party, which has clout in north Kashmir. Sajad also has got the support of some former legislators including ex-PDP patron Muzaffar Baig and the Pahari community leaders. Paharis are a linguistic minority who were granted Scheduled Tribe status in February this year.
Apart from Paharis, Sajad will be banking on the support of Shias, whose leader Imran Ansari is in his good books. “My victory is not as important as the defeat of Omar. It will mark a new dawn for Kashmir if he loses,” he says.
As for Omar, he is pitching the party’s Shia leader and Srinagar candidate Aga Ruhullah to counter Imran Ansari’s influence on Shia voters.
However, what could tilt the scales is the entry of former MLA Engineer Rashid, who is currently in Tihar Jail following his arrest by the NIA in an alleged terror funding case. Rashid is a former member of PC and could end up cutting Sajad’s votes. And that could benefit Omar.