Udhampur & Srinagar are polls apart

Srinagar: Former chief minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah faces greenhorns in the election to Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Thursday, when nearly three million voters will get to choose among two dozen candidates from two Lok Sabha seats including Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah faces Agha Mohsin of the PDP, Irfan Ansari of People’s Conference and Khalid Jehangir of the BJP in Srinagar constituency, which has nearly 1.3 million registered voters. In Udhampur, Union minister Jitendra Singh of the BJP faces Vikramaditya Singh, the Congress candidate and heir of the erstwhile ruler of J&K.

The turnout in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency – which comprises three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal – may be even lower than in Baramulla, which recorded around 34% voting in the first phase of polling on April 11, according to some observers. In the by-election to Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in 2017, Abdullah had emerged as the winner after a meagre 7.2% voting during which eight civilians were killed.


Abdullah’s party has promised that if voted to power it will fight for restoration of internal autonomy of the state, and has urged people to vote against communal forces. BJP’s Jehangir says the regional parties have befooled people till now and that people should vote for the party which can bring clean governance and development for all. Ansari, on his part, is seeking votes to bring down traditional political families of PDP and National Conference. In Udhampur constituency, where nearly 1.7 million voters are registered, the BJP is banking on its nationalism pitch and promise to abrogate special status of the state.