Omar Abdullah For Baramulla: Stepping Out Of The Comfort Zone (image:x.com/OmarAbdullah/)
The Abdullahs always contested from Srinagar constituency, advancing their party National Conference”s (NC) hold in Central Kashmir. In the first polls in Jammu and Kashmir after reading down of Article 370, Omar Abdullah chose Baramulla over their family bastion, Srinagar.
Omar, 53, was the last Leader of opposition in the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. He served as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister – became the youngest Chief Minister of the state when the government was formed in coalition with Congress in January 2009.
Currently helming as National Conference (NC) vice-president, Omar Abdullah“s entry into politics was through Lok Sabha election in 1998. At the age of 28, he got elected from Srinagar parliamentary seat in his debut polls. He repeated the winning streak for three times and served as a Union Minister.
In 2002, he took over the reigns of the party from his father Farooq Abdullah, and continued the position till 2009. In the same year, he encountered his first defeat in the Assembly polls from Ganderbal constituency and lost the seat to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Qazi Mohammad Afzal. In 2008, Omar Abdullah won from the same seat and became the chief minister of the state. In 2014, though he contested from two seats, he lost Sonawar seat but won from Beerwah seat.
In 2019, Omar Abdullah, his father along with many other political leaders were place under house arrest following abrogation of Article 370 and state got split into two Union Territories. In February 2020, he was charged with the Public Safety Act (PSA) and later revoked the detention orders in late March.
Omar Abdullah, extends hopes about his win and party”s prospects in Baramulla constituency. He is relying heavily on Shia support, as the constituency maintains many Shia dominated regions including Budgam, Pattan, Beerwah, Bandipora, and Sonawari.
Though NC leader advances the election as his party”s fight against the BJP, the rival Peoples Conference frequently criticised him of being the saffron party’s first ally in Jammu and Kashmir, referring his ministership during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.
In the polls, Abdullah is pitted against PC’s Sajad Gani Lone, PDP’s Fayaz Ahmad Mir and independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh. The Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency covers 18 Assembly segments and spread across four districts, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora (north Kashmir), and Budgam (central Kashmir). Since 1971, NC has won the constituency nine times, the Congress twice, and the PDP once.
