Farooq Abdullah anounces, will contest in Kashmir election

way2barak, Aug 14: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah hoped the Assembly elections would be held soon and he will return to electoral politics.

“Omar does not want to contest. He is saying he won’t contest unless statehood is restored. I will contest. I am going to fight. I am not dead,” Farooq, 86, told reporters in his usual aggressive style.

If Farooq contests the Assembly elections, he is virtually certain to be the chief ministerial face.

Like Omar, fellow former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti too has vowed not to contest Assembly elections until statehood has been restored.

As part of a family understanding in 2002, he had left state politics in charge of his son but the party, Omar included, suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections that year.

Farooq shifted to national politics, first as a Rajya Sabha member and then, in 2009, as Lok Sabha member from Srinagar. He lost the seat in 2014 but again won in 2019.