Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday filed his nomination papers from Ganderbal assembly seat in central Kashmir. His son was also with him during this time. Earlier, while addressing a public meeting, Abdullah became emotional. He took off his cap during the meeting and with folded hands appealed to the voters to make him win from Ganderbal assembly seat. He appealed to the people to give him a chance to serve the people and make him win from Ganderbal in the upcoming assembly elections of Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar, who usually speaks in Urdu and addressed the public meeting, said in Kashmiri, “Today I will say only one thing. My turban, my honour and this cap are in your hands.” When Omar was making this emotional appeal to the people after removing his cap from his head, the crowd present there said loudly that he did not need to remove his cap. When Omar removed his cap from his head and appealed to the party workers to save his honour, some party workers were also seen crying.
He requested party workers to give him “one chance” so that he can truly serve the people of the constituency. “Today, I request you with folded hands to reach out to every door for my victory in the election,” Omar said. He urged party workers to hold on to a rope and trust Allah for electoral victory. “If we hold on to a rope and keep our trust in Allah, victory will definitely be ours,” Omar said.
Let us tell you that voting is to be held in Ganderbal on September 25. Abdullah represented this seat from 2009 to 2014. He contested the 2014 assembly elections from Beerwah assembly seat in Budgam district of central Kashmir and won. Abdullah also contested from Sonwar seat in Srinagar, but there he was defeated by the then leader of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mohammad Ashraf Mir.
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Ganderbal has been a stronghold of the National Conference and the Abdullah family. National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and current president Farooq Abdullah have represented the constituency several times. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah won the seat in 1977, followed by his son Farooq Abdullah in 1983, 1987 and 1996. Omar Abdullah was later elected from the constituency in 2008.
In 2014, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar won the Ganderbal seat on a National Conference ticket. Omar Abdullah contested the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla seat in north Kashmir this year but lost to Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid. Rashid is lodged in Tihar jail on charges of funding terrorism. Voting for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held on September 18, 25 and October 1.
