Ganderbal: In Omar Abdullah's Prestige Battle, Hurdles Are Many
The Abdullahs considers Ganderbal as their home turf and for decades, the elections results solidified the assembly segment as a National Conference (NC) bastion. The three generations of the Abdullahs – founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah represented the constituency during different periods.
However, NC Vice President and former chief minister Omar Abdullah‘s fresh bid to the constituency is not devoid of challenges. The high-profile constituency is going to witness an intense political showdown between Omar, People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Bashir Ahmed Mir, Awami Ittehad Party (AIP)’s Sheikh Ashiq and independents including former MLA Ganderbal Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar and jailed separatist Sarjan Wagay, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati.
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Omar is contesting from the Ganderbal seat for the third time. Despite his initial disagreements on contesting for assembly elections considering Jammu and Kashmir’s Union Territory (UT) status, the party pressures prompted him to revise decision. In the 2002 election, when Omar contested from the constituency for the first time, he suffered defeat. Omar who was also helming as the party chief at that time, lost the seat to the PDP’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal by 2,870 votes. However, in the 2008 polls, he wrested the the same seat by defeating Afzal with a margin of 8,215 votes. Then he went on to become the youngest chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the 2014 elections, however, decided to give the seat to Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar who was then a new face in the party. Jabbar secured victory by defeating PDP rival Afzal by a margin of 597 votes. In the current polls, tables are turned, Jabbar is also vying for the seat posing threat to Abdullah.
Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar
Sheikh Ishq, son of former minister late Sheikh Jabbar, joined the NC in 2014, after resigning from the Congress. Omar Abdullah referred Ishfaq joining the NC as a “homecoming”. Before his win from Ganderbal, he had unsuccessfully contested more than two elections earlier on the Congress ticket.
As per the reports, after the abrogation of Article 370, Ishfaq has been distancing himself from NC, especially when his wife, Nuzhat Ishfaq, elected as the chairperson of the Ganderbal District Development Council (DDC) on the the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) ticket from Ganderbal. Nuzhat is the daughter of former NC MLA from Hazratbal Constituency, Mohammad Sayeed Akhoon.
In August 2023, Jabbar was expelled from the party citing anti-party activities and earlier this year, he boasted his own party J&K United Movement (JKUM). In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party extended support to Altaf Bukhari.
In the election manifesto released by Jabbar ahead of elections, Jabbar pledges to fight for restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, Statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and lift the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).
Sheikh Ishq’s expulsion from NC was seen as a blow to the party in Ganderbal, considering the local support, he maintains in certain pockets, Kashmir Life reports. He is also seen close to J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha in recent years.
Bashir Ahmad Mir
According to reports, candidacy of Bashir Mir, a prominent PDP youth leader, has aroused the party cadre at the same time generated unsatisfaction among some party workers.
Though Mir contested unsuccessfully from Kangan constituency in the past two assembly elections, he has garnered significant votes. In the 2014 polls, Mir lost to NC rival Mian Altaf by a small margin of 1,432 votes. Since Kangan is now being reserved for ST candidates, the PDP nominated him from Ganderbal.
Mir is viewed as a hero among the local population of the Ganderbal district as he has rescued several people from the Sindh river and has helped the police in such rescue operations multiple times, the Business Standard reports.
Sheikh Ashiq
Sheikh Ashiq, a renowned businessman who headed the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) for long time is AIP candidate in the fray.
He stated that his decision to join politics was fueled by the political crisis in Jammu and Kashmir following the revocation of Article 370 in 2019 and added, “I thought people’s voices needed to be heard and grievances addressed… I found AIP was the only party that enjoyed the trust of the people and had no baggage,” the Week reports, as Ashiq is saying.
Being a local candidate, and possessing a business persona Ashiq is putting strong campaigning activities among the urban voters of the constituency.
Jailed cleric and separatist leader Sarjan Barkati was the recent entrant in the poll fray. Barkati is well known as the face of the 2016 protest in Kashmir Valley, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The protest continued for three months, and he attained quick fame through his peculiar way of sloganeering, which even earned him the title “freedom chacha.” Also known as the pied piper of the 2016 unrest, he is currently in jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) citing his alleged involvement in a terror-funding case.
Since jailed separatist leader Engineer Rashid secured a massive victory in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla, defeating Omar Abdullah, Barkati’s family hopes to attain the same in the assembly polls wherein his daughter Sugraa is involved in the election activities, seeking villagers’ support for her father.
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Aside from these challenges, the contest of Sahil Farooq, former Congress Ganderbal district president and now fielding as an independent candidate in protest might also affect the poll prospects of Omar Abdullah, especially in the form of division of votes.
Ganderbal along with 25 other constituencies is scheduled to go to polls in the second phase on September 25.
