The contest in the Ganderbal Assembly seat in J&K may not be a cakewalk for former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah.
A total of 24 candidates have filed their nominations for the seat out of which around four are real challengers for him.
Fiery cleric Sarjan Barkati also filed his nomination papers from this Assembly constituency.
Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Sarjan Barkati alias Azadi Chacha shot into the limelight in 2016 when the Hizbul poster boy, Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.
Barkati's vitriolic speeches against India incited youth to join the militant ranks. In addition, those speeches are believed to have motivated many to join the militant ranks.
Barkati is presently lodged in jail. He was first arrested in 2016 and after his release was again arrested last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He is considered to be an ideologue, promoter and supporter of terrorist-secessionist nexus.
His wife was also later arrested in a money laundering case.
Barkati's nomination papers were earlier rejected in the Zainpora constituency of the Shopian district because his mandatory oath attested by the jail superintendent was not attached to the nomination papers.
His papers will now be scrutinised in Ganderbal and Beerwah. His relatives and supporters said this time the cleric's papers are complete in all respects.
Barkati joining the electoral fray against Omar Abdullah apparently seems to be less challenging for the NC leader because the Abdullahs, as a political family, are well entrenched in Ganderbal.
While Barkati marginally increases the challenge against Omar Abdullah, NC's real worry in Ganderbal comes from the other two potentially strong candidates.
Bashir Ahmad Mir of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Ishfaq Jabbar, an Independent from the J&K United Movement (JKUM).
Mir belongs to the neighbouring Kangan Assembly constituency. He had been challenging the otherwise unassailable senior Gujjar leader of the NC, Mian Altaf Ahmad in the past.
In the 2014 elections, Mian defeated Mir by less than 2,000 votes and this came as a rude shock to those who believed that Mir would finish a far distant second against the religious-political might of the Mian family in Kangan constituency.
After delimitation, Kangan is now an ST seat and that is the main reason for Bashir Mir to have moved to the neighbouring Ganderbal Assembly seat.
Mir shifting to Ganderbal is no flight of the fugitive. PDP as a political party has a standing in Ganderbal and it was in this constituency that Omar Abdullah lost to Qazi Afzal of the PDP in the 2002 elections.
Omar later avenged his defeat by winning from here in 2008, but 2024 is neither 2002 nor 2008.
Youth have rallied for Bashir Mir and this has heightened the odds against Omar Abdullah.
The NC's worries are multiplied by the presence of Ishfaq Jabbar also. He won from this constituency as an NC candidate in 2014, but was later expelled from the party for 'anti-NC activities'.
Ishfaq belongs to Lar village of Ganderbal and is the son of the late Sheikh Jabbar, a senior NC leader who played the pivotal role in toppling Dr Farooq Abdullah-led NC government in 1984 when 17 NC MLAs defected and Farooq's brother-in-law, G.M.Shah led the defectors to form the government with Congress support.
Ishfaq has all along maintained his presence among the people of Ganderbal during the last 10 years.
It was during this period that he formed the JKUM. His presence against Omar Abdullah is not something the NC can afford to take lightly.
Marginal problems for Abdullah in Ganderbal also come from Sahil Farooq. Sahil defied the Congress as its district president to file papers as an independent candidate in Ganderbal.
As Omar Abdullah himself said after being defeated by Engineer Rashid in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat he knows better that no election can be taken lightly.
It was this worry and concern that made the otherwise stiff upper-lipped Omar Abdullah remove his cap and extend it before the voters of Ganderbal for support.
In Kashmir, removing your cap and extending it hand folded before anybody is proverbially considered to be the ultimate act of supplication.
Omar has exhibited this great gesture of humility before the voters of Ganderbal.
He is still the favourite candidate in this constituency.
But, all said and done, the throwing of the hat into the electoral ring by cleric Barkati, the presence of Bashir Mir of the PDP and Ishfaq Jabbar as strong opponents, clearly indicates that victory for Omar Abdullah is no longer a foregone conclusion in this constituency.
As Abdullah himself often says, "Picture Abhi Baki Hai Mere Dost (The Movie is still not over yet)'.
(With inputs from IANS)
