Political developments have been unfolding rapidly in Jammu and Kashmir since the Election Commission of India announced assembly elections for the union territory starting next month. With national parties exploring possible coalitions with local ones, there is growing anticipation about who will represent the 90 constituencies in the union territory, which is going to the polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370.
Amid these developments, National Conference leader and party vice president Omar Abdullah hinted on Monday (August 26) at a possible run in the assembly elections, reversing his earlier stance of not participating until statehood is restored to the region.
Speaking to the media after the National Conference and Congress announced their seat-sharing agreement, Abdullah expressed his concern about sending a "wrong signal" by asking his party colleagues to contest and urging people to vote for an assembly that he himself might seem to be dismissing.
"I am conscious of one thing which I had not thought over fully, which is my mistake. If I am not ready to contest elections for an assembly, how can I get the people ready to vote for that assembly?" he said. "How can I hope that my colleagues will seek votes for an assembly which I am not ready to accept or may be suggesting that I look down upon? It has put pressure on me, and I do not want to give a wrong signal to the people," he added.
Significantly, there has been speculation that Abdullah might contest from his family's stronghold of Ganderbal in central Kashmir, a seat he represented in the 2008 assembly polls also. Earlier, on August 25, at a party event in Ganderbal, Abdullah was urged by party leaders to reconsider his decision not to contest the polls. However, on Monday, Abdullah said, "I am talking with my colleagues about this."
Further, speaking to the media, Abdullah also discussed the five seats where their alliance with Congress will see a friendly contest. He noted that these five seats were difficult for both parties to concede.
"Three seats are those which were difficult for us to leave, and two seats are those which were difficult for Congress to decide on. So, we decided that both parties will field their candidates on those five," he said.
Abdullah also mentioned a challenge during negotiations, as the CPI(M) wanted to field a candidate from the Devsar constituency.
"We would have had problems in Kulgam (which the alliance has allotted to CPI(M)'s M Y Tarigami) and we thought we might have to fight a friendly contest there as well. But, Farooq Abdullah talked to Tarigami and requested that there shouldn't be any candidate from Devsar, and he accepted. So, we have left the Kulgam seat for Tarigami," he added.
Meanwhile, when asked if the Congress had any objections to the NC's manifesto for the elections, Abdullah replied, "None whatsoever. Let me be categorical, at no point in time did the Congress party raise any objections to our manifesto." He further clarified that the idea of a common minimum programme (CMP) was only raised during initial discussions and would be developed only if the alliance received a mandate from the people.
"We told them very clearly that a CMP is always arrived at after you receive a verdict from the people, after you win the election, and therefore, obviously, we are fighting this election to win. If the NC and the Congress receive the support of the people, then we will form a CMP for governance for the next five years," Abdullah added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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