SHEIKH ABID
After the Election Commission of India announced the Assembly election dates in erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the region saw a continuous resumption of full-scale political revamp in the power corridors of union territory.
Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir from 18 September to 1 October 2024 in 3 phases to elect 90 members of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted, and the results will be declared on 8 October 2024.
Scenes from the main cities and towns to the interiors of valley are abuzz with the hustle bustle of political rallies, roadshows, sloganeering and voter enthusiasm, creating an atmosphere of a new hope among people to finally elect their own representatives and form a popular government after a lull of ten long years.
Assembly Polls 2024 – Ganderbal’s Snapshot
Over 2.08 lakh electorates across two constituencies set to exercise their right to franchise on 25 September
267 Polling Stations established by ECI across the district.
The district comprises two Assembly Constituencies: Kangan (ST) and Ganderbal with 2,08,018 registered voters, including 1,04,162 males and 1,03,856 females.
AC 17-Kangan (ST) has 78,904 voters (40,000 males and 38,904 females) with 110 polling stations. Likewise, AC 18-Ganderbal has 1,29,114 voters (64,162 males, 64,952 females) with 157 polling stations.
Candidates from Ganderbal
NC’s Omar Abdullah
Omar’s contestation was a surprise to all as earlier he had expressed his dissatisfaction in contesting from anywhere. It is pertinent to mention that earlier, Omar had said he would not participate in the Assembly polls. His name appeared in the NC’s list of 32 candidates for Phases II and III released on Tuesday 27 August.
Ganderbal has been NC’s Bastion from Generations
Omar represented Ganderbal from 2009 to 2014 when he was the chief minister (CM) of the NC-Congress coalition government. His grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, represented the seat in 1977. Omar’s father, former CM Farooq Abdullah, who is the president of NC, won the seat in 1983, 1987, and 1996. This shows how strong NC’s loyal voter base is in the main Assembly seat of Ganderbal.
These numbers along with the traditional strong support still makes NC one of the strongest contenders of this seat this time too. The support of congress to NC through its INDIA alliance negotiations makes their win percentage more obvious given the shifting of Congress vote in NC’s kitty.
PDP’s Bashir Ahmad Mir
Bashir Mir is a renowned social cum political activist hailing from Kangan area of Ganderbal. He is locally very popular for his public cum social services.
Bashir Mir had lost by a thin margin of 1432 votes in the 2014 Assembly elections, securing 24,380 votes against NC’s stalwart Mian Altaf, who won with 25,812 votes . This popularity makes him the only formidable opponent for Omer Abdullah in Ganderbal, given his popularity among youths and other sections of the electorate.
Other Parties
Other parties include DPAP’s Jin Qaisar Sultan, a youth leader trying his luck under Gulam Nabi Azad’s party ticket.
Similarly Ishfaq Jabbar, NC’s former MLA from Ganderbal, is now contesting under the banner of Kashmir United Movement, after he was expelled from NC on anti-party allegations.
BJP is in a silent mode in Ganderbal with almost zero support in the district. Also there has not been much political activity by BJP in the area. Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party & Ishfaq Jabbar’s KUM are called BJP proxies in the region. It is also pertinent to mention that jailed MP currently on bail Engineer Rashid’s party has also nominated its candidate for Ganderbal. Sheikh Ashiq, the former KCCI chairman & AIP member, will be fighting from Ganderbal constituency on the AIP ticket.
Kangan constituency
Kangan constituency is an interesting case study of exciting candidates, both having a strong following, along with socio religious and political privilege.
Since Kangan is a designated ST seat, both the strong contenders from two big rival parties NC & PDP are expected to witness a head on battle.
For the first time, two Alis – Mehar Ali and Jamat Ali – will contest for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) seat, marking a significant shift in the region’s political landscape.
Mehar Ali, a fourth-generation descendant of revered Sufi saint Baba ji Shab Larvi and Syed Jamat Ali, belongs to the Gujjar family of Baba Nagri in Kangan Tehsil. Jamat Ali, a retired bureaucrat turned politician, belongs to the Pahari community and is a resident of Waliwar in Lar Tehsil of Ganderbal district. He is the son-in-law of a prominent Sufi saint from the Naga Baji family of Bandipora.
Notably, there are around 10,000 first-time voters after the 2014 Assembly elections, and approximately 35,000 voters belong to the age group of 18-29 years. This would also decide to a larger extent the fate of contesting candidates as new generation educated youth seek vision & concrete roadmap over traditional dynastic lineage and privilege while choosing their representatives.
Amidst the backdrop of changing political tides, Ganderbal stands poised to make a significant impact in the larger narrative of the state’s governance and development. And on 8th October we will witness a new chapter on who is who of the future political discourse of Kashmir’s democratically elected government after a decade of silence on public representation. Till then, let us vote and wait.
