Mehbooba to contest from Anantnag

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, March 23

Embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti has decided to accept the challenge and contest the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat apparently to raise the morale of its workers and set the stage for the Assembly polls.

In another significant decision, the party has decided not to contest from the two Lok Sabha parliamentary seats in the Jammu region. “I will be contesting from Anantnag and Aga Mohsin will contest from Srinagar,” Mehbooba Mufti announced at a press briefing in Srinagar after a parliamentary board meeting.

Mehbooba’s candidature is seen as the party’s attempt to regain its south Kashmir base that has seen erosion since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July 2016 that triggered massive protests in Kashmir.

While it is learnt that the party was thinking on several names as its candidate, Mehbooba’s name was shortlisted after pressure from party leaders and workers asking her to contest from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat herself. With alliance partners, National Conference and Congress engaged in a “friendly contest” in the south Kashmir parliamentary seat, the party leaders see a good prospect for its candidate.

In 2014, Mehbooba had won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. She later vacated the seat after she got elected from the Anantnag Assembly seat. However, the bypoll elections for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat could not be held and it was one of the longest-delayed bypolls in the country since 1996. Mehbooba has not lost any election — whether parliamentary of Assembly — from south Kashmir. While she represented the Anantnag seat in 2004 and 2014, she won the Assembly elections from three different seats — Anantnag, Bijbehara and Wachi.

The former Chief Minister said the party had decided not to contest from the Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats.

“It was discussed that during the last elections, our party secured 1.75 lakh votes from the Jammu-Rajouri seat and some 30 to 40,000 from Udhampur-Doda seat. Some of our associates said we should contest elections from there as well. But there were some associates, some workers, people from civil society and social groups who appealed that if by contesting the elections, the secular vote was divided, it would help those forces who, we feel, want to destroy Jammu and Kashmir. As such, all people advised that we should not contest on the Jammu-Rajouri and Udhampur-Doda seat,” she said.

She said by not contesting the polls from Jammu and Udhampur, they “made an effort on our part that there should be no loss to the secular vote and that secular forces should strengthen”.

Bid to regain base in south Kashmir 

• PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s candidature is seen as the party’s attempt to regain its south Kashmir base that has seen erosion since the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani in July 2016 that triggered unrest in Kashmir
• In 2014, Mehbooba had won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. She later vacated the seat after she got elected from the Anantnag Assembly seat