National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is now a veteran of political and electoral battles, he has a streak of winning elections and also losing some , but there would be a lot of spotlight on how he fares in the current electoral battle that he has chosen for himself , which many see as a U-turn by him after having declared umpteenth number of times that he won’t contest the Assembly polls as long as J&K remains a Union Territory . He has broken his vow .
Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is making a debut in the electoral battle , she is contesting from Bijbehra , a constituency in south Kashmir from where her mother had made a debut in elections , obeying her daddy Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , way back in 1996.
For Omar Abdullah contesting Assembly polls from Ganderbal once considered his family bastion is ironical . He had shifted to north Kashmir’s LS seat Baramulla in 2024 general elections , giving up idea of contesting from Srinagar parliamentary constituency , of which Ganderbal formed one of the 18 Assembly segments , now he is back to that area and familiar constituency . His performance will be watched very closely as that will determine whether he can carry on with the family legacy and also future of the party that he represents.
Iltija , many years younger to Omar , is making a debut from South Kashmir’s Bijbehra constituency , from where her mother Mehbooba Mufti had made a debut in 1996 . Both the families are embedded in the political history of Kashmir as the ones that define landscape and narrative of Kashmir , its past, present and future .
Omar is representative of the grand old party of Kashmir, which was once heartthrob of Kashmir . It was founded by his grandfather and Kashmir’s most popular leader Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1930s He is a high-profile politician from Kashmir, popular with the TV channels and seminar circuit in foreign countries because of his in-depth knowledge of the international affairs and wit in turning the arguments into logic based on facts though at times he omits history as it existed and statements are full of satire.
This time , his return to the Assembly poll politics after a gap of 10 years , but soon after he lost the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla constituency to a jailed leader Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid by a margin of more than two lakh votes , is significant because it is a clear U-turn from his stand since March 2020 when he was set free from detention that he won’t contest the polls in the UT of J&K. Some have described this as political exigency .. But there is something more to it which will be known only after poll results are declared on October 2024 . This is a clear attempt at the moment to keep in complete control of the Abdullah family .
Iltija is representing 25-year-old party – People’s Democratic Party – founded by her grandfather and mother, along with some of the political stalwarts , in July 1999. Most of the stalwarts have quit the party or they fell apart ,
Her real strength is her mother -Mehbooba and the art of politics she learned from her grandfather Mufti Mohammad Sayeed . Her visibly aggressive articulation on abrogation of Article 370 and in defense of the youth of Kashmir on TV channels when her mother was under detention has won her an appeal among the youth. She is bright young face in the world of old familiar faces , including Omar Abdullah .
The PDP’s future rests on her shoulders , as Mehbooba Has kept her word that she won’t contest Assembly polls in the UT of J&K and till the time Article 370 is restored . Lok Sabha election , which Mehbooba lost for a second time in 2024 was having its different connotations which were not related to the restoration of Article 370 . She wanted to make a point to the nation about the dignity and identity of the people of Kashmir , even though she lost the election , her point resonated in the country .
By fielding Iltija , she is reiterating her point that PDP cannot be isolated in the political frame of Kashmir and its place in the national politics . She has effectively handed over baton to her daughter -Iltija . Now it is for Iltija to showcase herself as real heir .
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
