J&K Polls: NC announces candidates list, Omar Abdullah to contest from Ganderbal

Srinagar: The National Conference on Tuesday announced a list of 32 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. 

The National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah is set to contest the Ganderbal assembly seat, as the party announced its second list of candidates.

The 32-candidate list features Omar Abdullah for Ganderbal, along with other high-profile candidates and some new faces, Tanveer Sadiq is nominated from for Zadibal, Mian Mehar Ali is constesting from Kangan, Salman Sagar for Hazratbal, Ali Mohammad Sagar is set to constest from Khanyar seat, Shameema Firdous for Habba Kadal, Mushtaq Guroo for Chanapora, Ahsan Pardesi for Lal Chowk, and Mubarak Gul for Eid Constituency.

The announcement comes a day after the National Conference and Congress finalised a seat-sharing pact. Under this arrangement, NC will contest 51 seats, Congress will field candidates in 32 constituencies, with friendly contests on five seats, and one seat each allocated to CPI (M) and the Panthers Party.

Ganderbal Strong Hold of National Conference

Ganderbal is a stronghold for the National Conference (NC), having previously elected three generations of the Abdullah family. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founder of NC, won the seat in 1977. His son, Farooq Abdullah, was elected three times—in 1983, 1987, and 1996. Omar Abdullah, the current NC Vice President, was elected in 2008.

Abdullah represented the constituency from 2009 to 2014 while serving as Chief Minister in the NC-Congress coalition government.