Shock to former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, both lost the elections

Defeat in Lok Sabha Elections This is a blow to the political career of former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, as they have vowed not to contest the upcoming assembly elections as long as Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory.

Abdullah was defeated by former MLA and terror-funding accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid by nearly two lakh votes in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, while Mufti was defeated by Gujjar leader and National Conference (NC) candidate Mian Altaf Ahmed by nearly three lakh votes in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Assembly elections are likely to be held before September 30 this year, in such a situation this defeat has raised a question mark on the participation of Abdullah and Mufti in these elections.

Both the leaders have on several occasions refused to participate in the assembly elections as long as Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory.

In an interview to PTI-Bhasha in April this year, 54-year-old Abdullah had said, “I have made it clear that in view of the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, I am not contesting the assembly elections.” He had said that he has been saying this since 2020 and his stand has not changed.

The PDP president has been a little more tough in her stand on the issue.

In an interview to PTI last year, Mufti had said, “Until Article 370 is restored, I will never take part in the assembly elections. Whenever I took oath as an assembly member, I took oath under two constitutions, the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution and the Constitution of India – with two flags at the same time. It may be foolish on my part, but it is an emotional issue for me.”

This is Abdullah’s first electoral defeat in 22 years, while 65-year-old Mufti has lost two consecutive elections. She has also lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and 1999.

This is Abdullah’s first defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

The other prominent figure who lost the election was PDP youth president Waheed Parra, who also faces terrorism charges. Parra lost the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat to influential Shia leader Agha Ruhullah.

On the other hand, Kashmir has sent three first-time MPs to the Lok Sabha this year, with Rashid, who is currently in Tihar jail in a terror-funding case, emerging as the tallest leader in Kashmir politics.

The former MLA, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, not only defeated Abdullah but also pushed People’s Conference president Sajjad Gani Lone to the third position.
Rashid (56) has been a popular figure among the people of his area in north Kashmir for raising human rights issues during his two stints as MLA from Langate in 2008 and 2014.

He finished third in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rashid was arrested by the NIA in 2019 in a terror funding case and has been in Tihar jail since then.

Besides Rashid, National Conference leaders Mian Altaf Ahmed and Agha Ruhullah defeated their arch rivals Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag-Rajouri and Waheed Parra in Srinagar respectively.

The Gujjar leader has been a minister and MLA from Kangan in Ganderbal district several times and his selection as the candidate for the newly-created Anantnag-Rajouri seat was a masterstroke by the NC leadership. Ahmed (67), who comes from a prominent religious family and has a huge following among the Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir, was initially reluctant to contest the election but was eventually persuaded by the party leadership.

The soft-spoken politician has an image of an efficient administrator and has served as a minister in the governments led by Farooq Abdullah (1996-2002) and Omar Abdullah (2009-2014) in the past. Jammu and Kashmir,

Ruhullah, whose first foray into politics was surrounded by controversy, will be the first Shia to enter the Lok Sabha from Kashmir since 1971.

Ruhullah’s father Aga Syed Mehdi was killed by militants in an IED blast in 2000, forcing his young son to enter politics in the 2002 assembly elections.

When Ruhullah filed his nomination papers on an NC ticket, one of his relatives lodged a complaint with election officials alleging that he was underage to contest the election.

The complaint was dismissed and Ruhullah won the election from Budgam seat. Both Mian Altaf Ahmed and Ruhullah have not lost any election till date.

The outspoken Ruhullah did not shy away from hitting out at the party leadership when the party decided to contest the District Development Council elections after the abrogation of Article 370.

He reiterated his stand and said that he will raise the issue of removal of Article 370 in Parliament.

He said, “I will raise the issue of what was taken away from us and the decisions taken on 5 August 2019 are not acceptable to us. I will strongly take their voice to the Parliament and demand its restoration. This mandate increases my responsibility.”

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