Farooq vs novices in Srinagar

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 15

With only a day of campaigning left in Kashmir valley’s heartland constituency of Srinagar, veteran politician and incumbent Farooq Abdullah faces a competition from novice politicians.

The campaigning in Srinagar, which has markedly been shadowed by Abdullah’s high-pitch statements against the BJP and his aggressive defence of the state’s special status, will end on Tuesday and the election will be held on Thursday when the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election is scheduled.

Srinagar city, a bustling urban heartland of 1.2 million people and one of the two capital cities of the Jammu and Kashmir state, is one of the three districts that make up the constituency along with the adjoining central Kashmir districts of Ganderbal and Budgam. The parliamentary constituency of Srinagar is a prized seat where voters have diminished over the past elections and the chances of another low voter-turnout are highly likely.

The contest in Srinagar slants in favour of Abdullah, whose family, including his mother Akbar Jehan, his son Omar Abdullah and he himself, has won seven out of 13 parliamentary elections from Srinagar.

The track record of the constituency suggests that the National Conference, the oldest political party of the state which was carved out of Muslim Conference in 1939 by Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah, is a front-runner having represented Srinagar in 10 out of last 12 Lok Sabhas.

In the previous Lok Sabha election in 2014, Tariq Hameed Karaa of PDP had emerged giant-slayer by routing Abdullah from his bastion. But the years of anti-incumbency against the PDP dented the party as evident from Karra’s resignation from the Lok Sabha and also from the party that saw Abdullah winning the 2017 by-poll.

For the 17th Lok Sabha, the contest will be between Abdullah, a three time Chief Minister and also a three-time Lok Sabha member, and 11 other candidates who are political novices.

Aga Syed Mohsin, who had joined the NC in 2014 and later switched to the PDP in 2017, is the candidate of Mehbooba Mufti’s party which has struggled with defection after its coalition government with the BJP collapsed last year. Irfan Ansari, a candidate of Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference, is making a debut in politics.

Mohsin and Ansari, both members of influential Shia families, are likely to divide each other’s vote share as Shia voters in parts of Budgam and Srinagar strictly vote on sectarian lines.

Sheikh Khalid Jehangir is the candidate of the BJP, the party which has not little support structure in Kashmir valley.

The other uninfluential candidates in the fray are Nazir Ahmad Lone of Rashtriya Jankranti Party, Abdul Rashid Ganie of National Panthers Party, Abdul Khaliq Bhat of Shiv Sena, Nazir Ahmad Sofi of Manavadikar National Party, Showkat Hussain Khan of Janata Dal United and three Independents — Abdul Rashid Banday, Bilal Sultan and Sajad Ahmad Dar.

Voter turnout biggest challenge

• The biggest challenge in Srinagar constituency will be the voter turnout as the urban apathy and separatist sentiment has kept most people away from polling booths
• Srinagar district, which contributes majority of electoral share for the constituency from among the three districts, has been a strong support base for separatism and most elections here have been boycotted, unlike the rural areas which came out to form lengthy queues to vote in several previous elections
• The bypoll in 2017 had Srinagar parliamentary constituency registering an abysmal turnout of 7 per cent while eight civilians had died in protests. The previous low in Srinagar was the 1999 election when 11.93 per cent turnout was registered

Total voters
12,94,560

Male
6,67,252

Female
6,27,282

Transgender
26

Polling stations
1,716