LS Polls: NC fields Omar from Baramulla, Ruhulla from Srinagar

SRINAGAR — The National Conference on Friday announced that former chief minister Omar Abdullah will fight from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat and Aga Ruhullah Mehdi from Srinagar constituency.

As per the news agency KNO, NC President Dr Farooq Abdullah addressing a news conference today announced that Omar will fight from Baramulla Lok Sabha and Aga Ruhullah Mehdi will fight from Srinagar Lok Sabha segment.

In the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, Omar will be locked in a direct contest with Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone.

Omar joined politics in 1998 as a Lok Sabha member from Srinagar. He was again elected to Lok Sabha in 1999 and 2004. He also served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Omar lost the 2002 state polls to PDP’s Qazi Afzal from Ganderbal, considered a bastion of Abdullah’s. In 2008 polls, he won from the Ganderbal segment. In the 2014 Assembly polls, Omar fought from two segments. He was defeated by PDP’s Muhammad Ashraf Mir from Sonawar segment but won by a narrow margin against Nazir Ahmad Khan from the Beerwah seat.

An influential Shia leader from Budgam, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi is a three-time legislator.

Speaking during the presser, Omar dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to field their candidates in Kashmir division, saying that if anyone amongst BJP leaders emerges victorious from Kashmir seats, he will quit politics.

He added that he is directly fighting BJP and the Central government, saying that the party has been hiding behind two political parties here, who have met recently and cleared the picture before the public.

Omar also repulsed back to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stated NC has lost its 4000 members for improving the situation in J&K.

Responding to the query on PAGD, Omar said the conglomerate was never formed for election purposes. “NC was never there in PAGD for seats and elections,” he said.

Furthermore, Omar remained tight-lipped over the party’s agenda for the Lok Sabha polls, saying that the agenda will be cleared in rallies and events of the party.