Ghulam Ahmad Mir: Congress Veteran To Retrieve Dooru Assembly Seat (image:facebook.com/GAMirINC)
Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir is a former Jammu and Kashmir unit President. In the upcoming Assembly elections, he will be contesting from Dooru assembly segment in Anantnag district.
Earlier, Mir, a Congress veteran, served as a legislator representing Dooru assembly constituency twice and also as a minister in National Conference-Congress coalition government twice. He served as the president of Jammu and Kashmir Congress since 2015 and in 2022 resigned from the post ahead of polls.
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After submitting nomination papers from the assembly constituency, speaking to ANI, Mir said that the people are suffocated by the torture of the BJP and that’s why the INDIA alliance has always demanded democracy in the region.
“The people of J&K did not have any representation for the last 11 years. The people are suffocated by the torture of the BJP and the central government. That’s why the INDIA alliance always demanded democracy in J&K. The public should get the opportunity to choose their representative. The people here will participate and form the government. BJP is frustrated by the unity of the INDIA alliance here,” ANI reports as he is saying.
He also stated that regional parties in J&K, who did not come under the umbrella of INDIA bloc might be “sailing in two boats”. The Congress veteran claimed that assembly polls are an opportunity for the people of J&K to democratically “undo the injustices done to them” after the BJP came to power in 2014. Continuing further, about NC-Congress alliance Mir said that it will become the “voice of the people.”
In Dooru, the alliance partners, NC and Congress independently have managed to secure the seat six times since 1977; the NC candidates have won in the years 1977, 1983, 1987 and 1996 while Congress leader G A Mir has managed to bag victory twice in 2002 and 2008.
In 2002, Mir won the seat for the first time by defeating NC candidate Syed Manzoor Ahmad by a margin of 3119 votes. In 2008, Mir retained his position by defeating PDP leader Andrabi by a margin of 5918 votes.
However, in 2014, the PDP’s Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi has won the assembly segment. Andrabi secured victory by garnering 18,150 votes while sitting MP Mir retreated to second, who lost the seat by a margin of just 161 votes.
Along with Mir, other candidates vying for the seat include PDP’s Mohammad Ashraf Malik, Bashir Ahmad Wani of Apni Party, Mohamed Saleem Paray of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Mohsin Shafqat Mir of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sameer Ahmad Parry Rashtriya Lok Janshakti party (RLJP), and independent candidates such as Riyaz Ahmad Sofi, Hilal Ahmad Malik, Nizamuddin Bhat, and Mohammad Iqbal Ahanger.
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As per political experts, since there is no significant political candidate as opponent in the upcoming polls, the seat may be an easy win for Mir. Since Mir is the joint candidate for NC and Congress, NC leader Syed Tawqeer Hussain, who was the frontrunner for the constituency has extended his full support to G A Mir.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mir contested from high profile Anantnag seat and lost to National Conference (NC) candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad. Though Anantnag a PDP bastion, party chief Mehbooba Mufti lost the polls. In 2014, she won the seat by defeating NC’s Mehboob Beigh. In 2016, Mufti vacated the seat after becoming the Chief Minister of the state. The by-election for Anantnag was not able to held due to delicate security situation.
J&K Assembly elections will be held on three phases – September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 8.
