The stakes are high for two former chief ministers — Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad — who are contesting from Anantnag and Baderwah constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
SRINAGAR: The stakes are high for two former chief ministers — Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad — who are contesting from Anantnag and Baderwah constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. Anantnag and Baderwah are among the 16 constituencies, which are going to polls in the sixth phase on December 17.
Mufti has shifted from Pahalgam to Anantnag constituency and is pitted against his one time friend, Dr Mehboob Beigh of the National Conference (NC), from the Anantnag sear in couth Kashmir. Beigh won the 2002 polls by defeating his nearest rival, Liyakat Ali, a former militant, by 2,861 votes.
Mufti, who is People Democratic Party (PDP)’s chief ministerial candidate, has left his Pahalgam seat to his one-time rival, Rafi Mir. Mir, who was an NC nominee, was defeated by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti in the 2002 elections by 2,139 votes. Mehbooba Mufti quit the seat after she won the parliamentary elections from south Kashmir. Her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, won this seat in the 2004 by-elections.
Incidentally, Mir was the NC nominee that time too. He later defected to the PDP and is now contesting from Pahalgam. “Securing political and economic rights of the people of Jammu & Kashmir is the topmost priority of the PDP,” said Mufti.
National Conference is not leaving anything to chance either. “Azad and Mufti are yet to account for the Rs 24,000-crore package that the Center gave to revive the economy of the state and provide basic amenities to the people of Kashmir. Congress-PDP misrule has brought miseries to the people,” said Omar Abdullah, NC president.
It is the Baderwah seat that holds the key to the political future of Ghulam Nabi Azad. He won the by-elections in 2006, six months after he took over as chief minister of J&K. The Baderwah seat was vacated by Congress MLA Mohammad Sharief Naiz for Azad. At that time NC did not field any candidate against Azad as a token of respect. This time, however, it has fielded former advocate general Mohammad Aslam Goni against Azad. “For the past 60 years politicians have exploited the people of the state. Development was never an issue for them and it was only during the Congress regime that construction of roads, bridges, hospitals and educational institutions got an unprecedented boost,” Azad said.
The situation has changed for Azad after the Amarnath land fiasco. If Azad manages to win the polls and increase the party’s tally, he will be a strong candidate for the chief minister’s post. But if his party loses, it will be curtains for Azad’s political career in the state.
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