In do-or-die electoral battle, National Conference eyes to safeguard Srinagar, its ideological citadel

National Conference faces do-or-die situation in Srinagar district, aiming to win maximum seats in Assembly with Congress alliance.

The images of National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah standing on a shikara in the Dal Lake and holding the party flag on Sunday (September 22, 2024) may have looked like a scene from a Bollywood movie, but in reality, the party is looking at a do-or-die situation in Srinagar district, which has eight Assembly segments and is the party’s ideological citadel. 

The poll calculus of the NC, which is aiming to win the maximum number of seats in the 90-member Assembly with the help of ally Congress, depends on Srinagar. The summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir has remained in the throes of militancy and still finds resonance of boycott politics in several pockets. However, the NC sees a change in the situation this time. 

“People this time intend to express their anger through vote and not by a stone or other means. We expect Srinagar district to cross the voting turnout of the past 35 years. People are going to vote against those who handed over their mandate to the BJP (in 2014),” Salman Sagar, who is contesting from the Hazratbal constituency, said. He is up against a formidable contestant Asiea Naqash of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Ms. Naqash, a close aide of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, won the 2014 Assembly election.

The NC is banking on old cadre and rooted structure to revive the party’s fortunes. “The BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sees the NC as the only emerging alternative in Kashmir. This is why the party is being criticised and attempts are being made to weaken it. Independents have been fielded with the role of acting as vote-cut machines,” Mr. Sagar said. 

Besides Ms. Naqash, three PDP candidates, Zuhaib Yousaf Mir, Muhammad Khurshid Alam and Mohammad Iqbal Trumboo, are posing a challenge to the NC in Lal Chowk, Eidgah and Chanapora. “The PDP is fighting these elections as a battle for identity and dignity. Youths are detained under Public Safety Act and incarcerated in various jail of the country. They are being punished for minor mistakes. Passports are being denied. We will work to end this,” Mr. Mir said.

However, J&K Apni Party Altaf Bukhari, who has had a successful door-to-door campaign in Chanapora, is fast emerging as a formidable political force. “We engaged with New Delhi after 2019 to safeguard land and jobs for locals. We will do more to bring relief to people of Kashmir. I do not believe in hollow slogans,” Mr. Bukhari said.

J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra, as part of pre-poll arrangement, is contesting from Srinagar’s Central Shalteng. Interestingly, he is up against Muhammad Irfan Shah, a former NC leader who quit the party after being refused a ticket. The main contest on the seats is between the two. The PDP has fielded Abdul Qayum Bhat.