J&K elections: Omar Abdullah said he 'won't humiliate' himself by fighting polls in UT. Why did he change his mind?

Omar Abdullah

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday ended suspense over his participation in the upcoming Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections, with the party fielding him from the Ganderbal seat.

The party released a list of 32 candidates for the polls, which included Omar Abdullah for the Ganderbal assembly seat, a constituency he represented from 2009 to 2014 when he was the chief minister of the NC-Congress coalition government.

Omar's decision to contest comes after much drama within the NC, since the former J&K CM was initially reluctant to contest the assembly polls.

The junior Abdullah took a moral stance in 2020 that he will not contest the elections until Centre restores the statehood of J&K.

Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised as Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

In 2020, Omar said he will never be a member of the assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He later doubled down on his position, saying he would "not humiliate himself" by entering the legislature of a Union Territory (UT).

Even after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule for J&K, Omar's father and NC president Farooq Abdullah had said that he would lead the party in the polls and not his son.

But there were doubts about Farooq doing the heavy-lifting for the party in the run up to the three-phase polls due to his age and ill health. Omar himself admitted that a big reason why he may choose to contest is his father's health concerns.

Moreover, several NC workers had been urging Omar to contest the elections in 2024, saying that his leadership and guidance at this crucial juncture was of utmost importance.

These two reasons have forced Omar to reconsider his stance and step into the poll fray.

Earlier this week, Omar had dropped strong hints that he may contest the elections and not stick to his earlier decision.

Speaking to media after the NC and Congress announced their seat-sharing arrangement on Monday, Omar said he does not want to send out a "wrong signal" by asking his party colleagues to contest and the people to cast their votes for an assembly "that I may be suggesting that I look down upon".

"I am conscious of one thing which I had not thought over fully, which is my mistake. If I was not ready to contest an election for an assembly, how can I get the people ready to vote for that assembly? How can I hope that my colleagues will seek votes for an assembly which I am not ready to accept or may be suggesting that I look down upon? It has put a pressure on me and I do not want to give a wrong signal to the people," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held over three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. Results will be declared on October 4.