National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, party chief Farooq Abdullah announced on Friday.
Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has been named as National Conference’s candidate in Srinagar constituency.
“It has been decided that I will be contesting from North Kashmir [Baramulla constituency] because the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] is focusing a lot on North Kashmir. In North Kashmir, my fight is not against any candidate, my fight is with those powers that are behind that candidate,” Omar Abdullah said.
Former CM said that he wants “these powers” to be defeated in North Kashmir.
The National Conference is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in alliance with the Congress. Both parties are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, which is taking on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The National Conference is contesting all three Lok Sabha constituencies in the Kashmir region: Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar and Baramulla. The Congress will field its candidates from the two seats in the Jammu region – Udhampur and Jammu – as well as the lone seat in Ladakh.
Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will take place in the first five phases between April 19 and May 20.
