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.
NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and 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.
A day after the National Conference and the Congress agreed to contest 51 and 32 seats respectively for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, NC president Farooq Abdullah said in a coalition, the constituents have to accommodate each other.
“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.
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”.
Assembly polls are being held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The polls -- the first in 10 years -- will be held in three phases with the first phase of polling on September 18, followed by September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be done on October 4.