J&K polls: Omar Abdullah to contest from Ganderbal that has elected 3 generations of his family

Omar Abdullah

Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah will contest the Assembly elections from Ganderbal constituecy, considered to be the party's stronghold. Ganderbal has elected three generations of the Abdullah family.

The decision is seen as a U-turn as earlier Omar had vowed to not fight for a seat in the legislature of a union territory. But he had later dropped hints that he is likely to reconsider his decision of not contesting the polls.

Speaking to media after the NC and Congress announced their seat-sharing arrangement on Monday, Omar Abdullah 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".

The following persons have been nominated as contesting candidates from the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) for the upcoming Assembly elections, as approved by the President of JKNC:1.Kangan (ST): Mian Mehar Ali2.Ganderbal: Omar Abdullah3.Hazratbal: Salman Ali

JKNC (@JKNC_) August 27, 2024

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

National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah won the Ganderbal seat in 1977, his son Farooq Abdullah registered victory in 1983, 1987 and 1996.

This will be the third time Omar Abdullah will contest from the assembly. He lost the seat in 2002 but won it in 2008.