Farooq is among the 12 candidates that are in fray from Srinagar LS constituency which goes to polls in second phase on April 18.
Life has come full circle for National Conference president and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who is again trying his luck from prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha seat for the fourth time.
At 83, Farooq is fighting polls to redeem his lost glory given his previous victory in 2017 by-elections when Srinagar constituency saw a historic low turnout of only seven percent and large scale violence that left six people dead and 117 including 100 security men injured.
Separatist boycott call played a huge part in 2017 bypolls. The byelection is better remembered for Farooq Ahmad Dar who was allegedly used as "human shield" by the troops of 53 Rashtriya Riffles (RR) led by Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi when he tied him to the bonnet of his jeep to escape stone pelting during polling in Beerwa area of Budgam district on April 9, 2017.
Farooq is among the 12 candidates that are in fray from Srinagar LS constituency which goes to polls in second phase on April 18. Though Congress has not fielded any candidate against Farooq, he is into a triangular fight with PDP's Aga Syed Mohsin and Peoples Conference's Irfan Reza Ansari. BJP has fielded former journalist and state spokesman Khalid Jehangir from the seat. Irfan and Khalid are contesting for the first time while Aga lost an assembly seat as an independent last time.
"The general elections are significant since it is a direct fight between falsehood and truth. However, no matter how much they try, falsehood is bound to perish. Present elections will also decide if the people of the country irrespective of their caste and creed are able to live with dignity. So it is imperative for all of us to make our choice correctly", said Farooq.
Spread over three districts, the Srinagar LS seat with an electorate of 12.95 lakh voters comprise 15 assembly segments of central Kashmir. Once an NC bastion, Srinagar was literally conquered by PDP in 2014 assembly and parliamentary polls. PDP and NC won seven seats each while PDF leader won another seat. Farooq suffered a major defeat when he lost to PDP's Tariq Karra in Srinagar LS seat in 2014. However, Karra resigned from LS and PDP in 2016 over the killings post-Burhan Wani agitation. In the by-election in 2017, Farooq romped home defeating PDP's Nazir Khan.
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