Following the footsteps of former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone filed his nomination papers for the upcoming assembly elections from two constituencies - Handwara and Kupwara.
Lone's nomination filing was marked by a grand procession from his residence to the Returning Officer's office in Handwara, accompanied by hundreds of party workers and senior leaders.
The Peoples Conference has maintained a strong hold on the Handwara assembly segment for over a decade, with Lone defeating the National Conference candidate by a significant margin of over 5,000 votes in the 2014 assembly polls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Peoples Conference secured a lead of 8,000 votes over the National Conference in Handwara. This year, the party further consolidated its position, pushing the National Conference to the third spot with a lead of over 7,000 votes.
Later in the day, Lone filed his nomination papers for the Kupwara segment, setting the stage for an intense electoral battle with Nasir Aslam Wani of the National Conference. Other candidates in the fray include Firdous Baba of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and Fayaz Ahmad Mir of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mir had forfeited his deposit and finished fourth in the Kupwara assembly segment in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Omar Abdullah is also contesting elections on two seats
National Conference vice-president and party's chief ministerial face Omar Abdullah has also filed his nomination papers on two Assembly segments. He is contesting elections in Ganderbal and Budgam Assembly segments of central Kashmir.
It is not the first time that Omar will contest elections on two seats. In the last Assembly elections in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, he contested the election from Sonwar in Srinagar and Beerwah in Budgam district.
Omar Abdullah lost the Assembly elections from Sonwar but won the Beerwah seat. In 2014, the National Conference had left Ganderbal, the family bastion of Abdullahs, for Ashfaq Jabbar, who is from Ganderbal, joined the party before the Assembly polls.
483 candidates file nominations for the third phase
As many as 483 candidates have filed their nomination papers across 40 Assembly constituencies of seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir which will poll in the third and final phase of the elections.
A total of 483 candidates have filed nomination papers for the third phase of the forthcoming Assembly elections.
A total of 122 candidates have filed their nominations in Jammu district, followed by 111 in Baramulla district, 80 in Kupwara district, 50 in Bandipora district, 47 in Kathua district, 40 in Udhampur district, while 33 candidates have filed nominations in Samba district.
