STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah will contest the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections from the Ganderbal segment, the party said on Tuesday, in what marks a U-turn for the former chief minister who had vowed to not fight for a seat in the legislature of a union territory.
The party released a list of 32 candidates which included Omar Abdullah for the Ganderbal assembly seat, a constituency that he represented from 2009 to 2014 when he was the chief minister of the NC-Congress coalition government.
Omar Abdullah had dropped hints on Monday that he is likely to reconsider his decision of not contesting the polls.
Speaking to media after the NC and Congress announced their seat-sharing arrangement on Monday, Omar Abdullah said he does not want to send out a “wrong signal” by asking his party colleagues to contest and the people to cast their votes for an assembly “that I may be suggesting that I look down upon”.
“I am conscious of one thing which I had not thought over fully, which is my mistake. If I was not ready to contest an election for an assembly, how can I get the people ready to vote for that assembly?
“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 a pressure on me and I do not want to give a wrong signal to the people,” he said.
On alliance, Omar Abdullah said the seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress was done with the aim of taking on the BJP as a consolidated front, and form a government which will try to address problems of the people.
“In a coalition, one has to bear several things. You have to leave some (seats) to gain some (seats). We believe that the final decision taken by the coalition was a very good one. God willing, the coalition will be successful and will form the government here which will try to address the problems faced by the people,” he told reporters in Awantipora area of Pulwama district.
“If our objectives are good, we will succeed,” the senior Abdullah, who was accompanying National Conference candidate for Pampore seat, former Lok Sabha member Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi, for filing the nomination papers, said.
Speaking to reporters at Bijbehara in Anantnag district, Omar said, “The seat-sharing agreement with the Congress has been done. The effort was to raise a consolidated front against the BJP and its supporting parties and contest elections against them and to increase the chances of success further”. Referring to the seat-sharing agreement, Omar said he is aware that some of the leaders, who had worked hard over the past five to 10 years and wanted to contest the polls, were not given the mandate.
