Lok Sabha Elections: Former Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah To Contest Elections From Baramulla

Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, would run for office in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, the National Conference declared here on Friday.

While making the announcement, party president Farooq Abdullah informed reporters in this location that Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, a well-known Shia leader, will run from the Srinagar constituency in central Kashmir, which has historically supported the NC.

Following the repeal of Article 370 and the division of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Vice President of the NC, Omar Abdullah, declared he would not run for assembly elections until J-K was granted statehood again.

The Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, which is divided among 18 assembly districts, will be one of the most closely followed elections because of the altered political dynamics in the constituency following delimitation.

The seat, which includes portions of Budgam and four districts—Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, and others—is predicted to see a pivotal confrontation between the NC and Peoples Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone, a former separatist who is now a mainstream politician.

Given that the constituency has numerous Shia-dominated localities, like Budgam, Beerwah, Pattan, Sonawari, and Bandipora, among other pockets, the junior Abdullah would be primarily depending on Shia support.

In the delimitation process that followed the repeal of Article 370 in 2019, the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency was redesigned to contain two assembly seats from the Shia-dominated Budgam and Beerwah districts, as well as one from each of the two new assembly segments in Baramulla and Kupwara.

Prior to delimitation, the NC had a stronghold in the area, having taken the seat ten times since 1957. The PDP has won once, and the Congress has won four times.

With 133,426 votes, NC candidate Mohammad Akbar Lone defeated Peoples Conference candidate Raja Aijaz Ali, who received 1,03,193 votes, in the most recent general elections in 2019.

With 1,02,168 votes, independent Sheikh Abdul Rashid took third place, followed by PDP candidate Abdul Qayoom Wani, who received 53,530 votes, in fourth place.

Rashid, who ran in the most recent elections and is currently being held by the NIA on terror-funding allegations, has sway over the Langate assembly portion of the district, which he twice represented in the previous J-K legislature.

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