Omar Abdullah Files Nomination for Ganderbal Assembly Seat, May Also Contest Budgam
Srinagar, 4th September 2024: Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Vice President of the National Conference, submitted his nomination papers for the Ganderbal assembly seat on Wednesday. However, sources indicate that he may also run for the Budgam seat.
“I have filed the nomination papers for Ganderbal. Let’s not dwell on where others are contesting. The people of Ganderbal have elected me three times to Parliament and once as an MLA. I had to vacate my seat for Ishfaq Jabbar, as I had promised, but he betrayed the people of Ganderbal. We are now focusing on elections to advance Ganderbal’s development,” Abdullah stated after filing his papers.
Abdullah submitted his nomination to the returning officer at the Mini-Secretariat in Ganderbal, accompanied by senior party leaders and his sons.
He arrived at the Mini-Secretariat on a vehicle, flanked by a large group of enthusiastic NC supporters.
This marks Abdullah’s return to a constituency he represented from 2009 to 2014 during his tenure as Chief Minister in the NC-Congress coalition government of the former Jammu and Kashmir state.
In the 2014 assembly elections, Abdullah won the Beerwah seat in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. He also contested from the Sonawar seat in Srinagar but was defeated by Mohammad Ashraf Mir of the PDP.
Ganderbal has traditionally been a stronghold of the Abdullah family, with NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and current president Farooq Abdullah having both represented the constituency multiple times.
After the central government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and divided it into two union territories in August 2019, Abdullah had initially vowed not to contest for a legislative seat in a union territory. However, he recently expressed concerns about sending a “wrong signal” if he were to ask his party members and the public to vote for an assembly that he might not fully support.
“I realized that if I am not willing to contest for an assembly seat, I cannot expect people to vote for it or ask my colleagues to campaign for it. I do not want to give the impression that I do not value the assembly or suggest that it is unworthy,” he explained.
Abdullah had also contested the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla but lost to Sheikh Abdul Rashid, known as Engineer Rashid, who is currently in Tihar Jail facing terror funding charges.
