Omar Abdullah won't contest from family turf

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah will play it safe by contesting the upcoming assembly elections from Sonwar in Srinagar and Beerwah in Budgam district to avoid a repeat of his shock loss from family bastion Ganderbal a little more than a decade ago.

Ganderbal has been the traditional assembly constituency of the Abdullah family since the early 1980s, but Omar lost to Qazi Mohammad Afzal (PDP) from there in 2002. Six years later, he managed to win from Ganderbal. This time Omar has given up the constituency for Ashfaq Jabbar, who had contested the assembly polls against him in 2008.

Omar's decision to stand from Sonwar seems understandable. He lives on Gupkar Road, which is part of the constituency. And since the constituency usually registers a low voter turnout because of separatists' boycott call, he stands to gain over other candidates.

But the decision to stand from Beerwah reflects Omar's lack of confidence in himself and his work as chief minister over the past six years.

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar on Friday announced the party's fourth list of 22 candidates for the assembly polls. The party had earlier released the names of 62 candidates.