Setback for former CMs Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti as both lose polls

The defeat in Lok Sabha polls has come as a setback for the political careers of former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti in view of their vows not to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir till it remains a Union TerritoryWhile Abdullah was defeated by former MLA and terrorfunding accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid by a margin of nearly two lakh votes in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat Mufti was trounced by Gujjar leader and National Conference NC candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad by nearly three lakh votes in AnatnagRajouri seatWith the assembly elections likely to be held before September 30 this year the defeats have raised a question mark on the participation of Abdullah and Mufti in these electionsBoth the leaders have at several occasions ruled out participating in assembly elections till Jammu and Kashmir remained a Union TerritoryI have made it abundantly clear that in the current situation that JK finds itself in I am not contesting the assembly elections the 54yearold Abdullah told PTI in an interview in April this year adding that he had been saying this since 2020 and his position had not changedThe PDP president has been a little more hardline in her approach on this issueI am never going to participate in assembly election as long as Article 370 is not restored Whenever I took oath as a member assembly it was under two Constitutions JampK Constitution and the Constitution of India with two flags at the same time Maybe it is foolish on my part but it is more of an emotional issue for me Mufti said in an interview with PTI last yearWhile this was the first electoral defeat for Abdullah in 22 years 65yearold Mufti has now lost two elections back to back She had lost the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and 1999 as wellThis is the first loss in Lok Sabha polls for AbdullahThe other prominent loser in this election was PDP youth president Waheed Para who is also facing terror charges Para lost to influential Shia leader Aga Roohullah in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seatOn the other hand Kashmir has sent three firsttimers to Lok Sabha this year with Rashid who is currently in Tihar jail in a terrorfunding case emerging as the giant slayer of Kashmir politicsThe former MLA popularly known as Engineer Rashid not only defeated Abdullah but pushed Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone to the third positionRashid 56 has been a popular figure among the people of his area in north Kashmir for raising human rights issues during his two terms as MLA from Langate in 2008 and 2014He had come a close third in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls Rashid was arrested in 2019 by the NIA in connection with a terror funding case and has been in Tihar jail since thenBesides Rashid National Conference leaders Mian Altaf Ahmad and Aga Roohullah have defeated their more fancied rivals Mehbooba Mufti in AnantnagRajouri and Waheed Para in Srinagar respectivelyThe Gujjar leader has been a minister and MLA from Kangan in Ganderbal district for several terms and his selection as candidate for the newly carved AnantnagRajouri seat was a masterstroke by the NC leadership Ahmad 67 who comes from a wellrespected religious family and has a huge following among the Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir was initially reluctant to contest but was eventually persuaded by the party leadershipThe softspoken politician has a reputation of being an able administrator and has delivered in the past as minister in governments headed by Farooq Abdullah 19962002 and Omar Abdullah 20092014 in Jammu and KashmirRoohullah whose first step into politics was mired in controversy will be the first Shia from Kashmir to go to the Lok Sabha since 1971Roohullahs father Aga Syed Mehdi was killed by terrorists in an IED blast in 2000 forcing his young son to take a political plunge in 2002 assembly electionsWhen Roohullah filed his nomination papers on the NC ticket one of his relatives filed a complaint with the election authorities claiming he was underage to contest the pollsThe complaint was dismissed and Roohullah won the election from Budgam seat Both Mian Altaf Ahmad and Roohullah have not lost any election they contested so farThe outspoken Roohullah did not hesitate to take on the party leadership when it decided to contest the District Development Council polls after the abrogation of Article 370And he reiterated his stand saying he will raise the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in the ParliamentI will raise the issue of what was snatched from us and we do not accept the decisions taken on August 5 2019 I will vociferously take their voice to the Parliament and seek its restoration This mandate increases my responsibility he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for 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