2 NC rebels in fray against party’s new face in Ganderbal Ganderbal, Nov 08: An interesting contest is in the offing in Ganderbal assembly constituency as two prominent former National Conference leaders, Sheikh Ghulam Ahmed Saloora and Muhammad Yusuf Bhat are in the fray against a new face, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar, nominated by the party this time. Ganderbal which was represented by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was replaced by Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar this time, as Omar himself choose to contest from two assembly segments, Beerwah and Sonwar. Ganderbal is going to polls on 25th November in the first phase of assembly elections and it would witness a multiple contest between PDP, National Conference (NC), Congress and Saloora led Awami Itihaad Party (AIP), however the main contest will be between NC, PDP and AIP. Saloora had quit the National Conference last year and floated his new Awami Itihaad Party (AIP), giving up decades of association with NC. He is said to have a good voter base. A new face, Sheikh Ishfaq known mostly due to his father late Sheikh Jabbar, a prominent political figure of Lar area in Ganderbal, will contest as on NC ticket. Sheikh Ishfaq had contested 2008 elections from Ganderbal on congress ticket against NC’s Omar Abdullah. Muhammad Yusuf Bhat, who parted ways with the National- Conference, has been approved by the Screening Committee of the Congress for candidature from Ganderbal. PDP’s Qazi Muhammad Afzal has an edge over his rivals for two reasons. First, he has a support base in the two most populous villages of the constituency second the differences within the ranks of NC workers caused over the mandate to candidates would help Qazi. A political analyst attributed the contest is going to be interesting with PDP having an edge. Saloora and Bhat deserted National Conference, accusing the party leadership of ignoring senior workers and ignoring the people of their constituency.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 04:24:40 +0000
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