Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami: The Communist Face In J&K Assembly Polls (image:x.com/tarigami/)

CPI(M) veteran Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, or MY Tarigami, is the first political leader from Jammu and Kashmir to address a press conference after the abrogation of Article 370. In the meeting, he said the existing situation in the state was not in the interest of the country. And criticising the Modi Government for imprisoning former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah under the Public Safety Act, he said: “We, Abdullah and others are not terrorists . . . We also want to live, a Kashmiri, a Hindustani is saying this.”

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In the upcoming polls, he is contesting from the Kulgam assembly segment and is also the lone seat CPI(M) will be contesting in Jammu and Kashmir, part of the National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance. In the seat-sharing deal, realising the importance and political presence Tarigami holds in the region, alliance partners has strategically left the seat to him. Four-time legislator from Kulgam, Tarigami has been winning the seat since 1996. When the pre-poll alliance was forged, the senior CPI (M) leader welcomed the move and emphasised the necessity of secular parties to unite and fight the current regime’s actions, which have eroded the region’s constitutional rights.

Tarigami is also a prominent leader behind the formation of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a political alliance of seven major Kashmiri parties that aimed to seek the restoration of Article 370. Though PAGD swept the debut District Development Council (DDC) polls by securing 110 seats out of 276 seats, the alliance collapsed right before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

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Kulgam

Being the only CPI(M) MLA in the Assembly over the time, Tarigami understands the importance of addressing local issues and maintaining his long-established commitment to the Kulgam constituency. Kulgam was once been a cradle of religio-political outfit, the Jamaat-e-Islamia. It was in 1996 Assembly polls, more than six years after the militancy outbreak in Jammu and Kashmir, the constituency was won by Tarigami and subsequently retained the position in 2002, 2008, and 2014 elections. All these years  Jamaat-e-Islamia stayed away from electoral process, but in the forthcoming election, it has fielded two of its members as independent candidates and one among them – Sayyar Ahmad Reshi, a former Jamaat member has filed nomination from Kulgam assembly segment.  Thus, a total of 11 candidates, including Tarigami, representing the NC-Congress alliance, the PDP, and the Jamaat, are contesting in the constituency. Though political fight is tough this time, CPI(M) leader continue to hold an edge so far.

Kulgam, along with 23 other consituencies, will go to booths in the first phase, September 23.