JKPC’s Strategic Move: Sajad Gani Lone Nominated For Baramulla Seat

Srinagar: In a strategic move aimed at maximizing electoral prospects and consolidating support in key constituencies, J&amp;K People’s Conference (JKPC) has announced ‘Sajad Gani Lone’ as its candidate for the Baramulla Parliamentary seat.“This decision follows extensive deliberations with party leaders and a thorough assessment of available resources, with a focus on defeating a common adversary,” said Secretary General, JKPC, Imran Reza Ansari,”.Expressing confidence in Lone’s candidacy, Ansari said that Lone’s advocacy in Parliament will address the longstanding aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&amp;K). Party members anticipate an energized electorate and increased participation in the electoral processWhile reacting on the political development in J&amp;K, Editor in Chief of Daily Uqaab, emphasised Lone's candidate's potential impact, noting JKPC's strong performance in past elections despite fielding new candidates. Despite NC's victory in the last parliamentary election, JKPC's candidate secured second place, signalling Lone's potential for even greater success. “In the last parliamentary election, NC won the seat, but because of JKPC, number two was Sajad Lone’s candidate, that too who was new to politics and the candidate was a former cop, but because of the party he managed to be number two, so that indicates that if Sajad himself contests, it will do much better,”.Anjum emphasized the absence of a ‘third force’ in the North Kashmir seat, setting the stage for a direct contest between JKPC and the Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC).“Lone has a fair chance of winning because there is a direct contest between National Conference and Sajad Lone. There is no third force in the North Kashmir seat,” Anjum added.Anjum emphasized the historical context of the upcoming election, being the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganization of J&amp;K into a Union Territory, anticipating increased voter turnout, particularly among youth who see Lone as an emerging voice from J&amp;K. “This is the first election after the revocation of Article 370 and its reclassification as a Union Territory. It will be interesting to see the voter turnout because earlier trends used to be that there used to be very low turnout, particularly in Parliamentary elections. But now that people have been waiting for some kind of election and want representatives to form a government, there are expectations that voter turnout will go up. New voters, particularly youth, will look towards Sajad as an emerging voice from North Kashmir,” said Manzoor Anjum.Meanwhile, JKPC's decision not to contest in the Jammu region aims to avoid vote division, concentrating resources where victory is deemed feasible independently. “So, I think it's a realistic approach because the People's Conference has a very strong hold in North Kashmir. Instead of spending resources in other constituencies where they have not much chance of winning, if they concentrate only on this constituency, there are fair chances that they will manage to succeed," he added, emphasizing the party’s strategic focus.Reflecting on the challenge posed by the National Conference, which secured all three seats in the valley in 2019, by Lone’s candidacy. “In assessing the challenges posed by the National Conference (NC) to the J&amp;K People’s Conference (JKPC), it's clear that JKPC faces a formidable opponent. However, JKPC’s track record of strategic manoeuvring indicates that they are prepared to meet the challenge head-on,” he added.

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JKPC’s Strategic Move: Sajad Gani Lone Nominated For Baramulla Seat

JKPC's decision not to contest in the Jammu region aims to avoid vote division, concentrating resources where victory is deemed feasible independently

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