Eidgah Constituency: Not A Cakewalk For Whom? (left:Mohammad Khurshid Alam, right: Mubarak Gul)
An intense political battle is awaiting at the Eidgah constituency in Srinagar district. Among 13 candidates, political heavyweights, fresh faces and party defectors are included in the poll fray.
As per the reports, a fierce battle is expected between National Conference’s (NC) Mubarak Gul, and Peoples Democratic Party’s senior leader Mohammad Khurshid Alam.
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Mubarak Gul
NC’s seasoned politician Mubarak Gul has been representing the Eidgah assembly segment for decades. A five-time legislator, his maiden win from the constituency was in 1983. He then managed to secure victory for four consecutive times since 1996.
In 2002 Assembly election, he defeated independent candidate Mohammad Ashraf Bakashi. In 2008 polls, Ghul defeated PDP candidate Asifa Tariq Qara by a margin of 1679 votes and in 2014 he maintained his position by defeating PDP’s Ali Mohammad Wani by just 608 votes.
However, this time, Gul’s contest won’t be an easy one. Besides the anti-incumbency sentiments, the internal discussions of the party raised protest over veteran politician’s candidacy, demanding new leadership in the fray. Finally, keeping the resentment aside, the party gathered behind NC stalwart and are actively engaging in the election campaigns.
Gul began his political career as a councillor in 1976. Before his first win as a legislator he helmed multiple initiatives including the president of Rural Development Society, Jammu and Kashmir Youth Federation, and president of youth wing of National Conference.
Gul served as the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from 2013 to 2015 and was also the Advisor to Omar Abdullah who was then the chief minister.
Mohammad Khurshid Alam
After his brief outing with the Sajjad Lone’s People’s Conference (PC), Alam rejoined PDP ahead of these elections. A former trade leader, he served as a member of the legislative council (MLC) in the PDP-BJP alliance government.
Alam quit PDP and joined PC in March 2021, following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. Similar to other political leaders, he was also imprisoned for over seven months following the constitutional changes in the erstwhile state.
In 2014 polls, Alam unsuccessfully contested from Khanyar assembly constituency of Srinagar and lost to NC’s Ali Mohammad Sagar by a margin of 1,167 votes. Later, he was nominated by PDP for MLC post in J&K legislative Assembly in 2015.
On his return, Alam position himself as a strong and powerful alternative to NC veteran in Eidgah. Agreeing to this, political experts claims that Gul may encounter a tough challenge from Alam. There are high chances that his long-serving political experience, grass-root influence and local connections could pose great threat to Gul.
Other candidates in the fray include former Srinagar district unit president Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan who is contesting as an independent, BJP candidate Arif Raja, Apni Party’s Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, PC’s Irfan Ahmad Mattoo, Samajwadi Party’s Mehrajuddin Ahanger and NCP’s Nissar Ahmed Dar.
Imtiyaz Khan’s candidature underlines that the NC-Congress alliance has also not welcomed by all party members. Congress expelled Khan and some other leaders for defying party’s alliance strategy by contesting as an independent.
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In the fierce battle between Alam and Gul, Khan might emerge as a potential vote cutter, and it would prove advantageous to former, political experts observes. “Analysts believe that while Gul’s political experience and loyal voter base are strong, the presence of Khan as a former contestant could cut into Gul’s share of votes. Khan’s involvement is expected to be a game-changer,” Good Morning Kashmir reports.
Eidgah along with 25 other assembly constituencies go to booths on the second phase of Assembly elections.
