News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 9th October 2024
During a campaign event in Ganderbal, one of the most striking pictures from the Assembly elections is of former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, holding out his iconic sozni cap in his hand. Speaking in Kashmiri, the typically stoic Omar, embarrassed by the Lok Sabha setback in the Baramulla constituency, begged voters for “a chance to serve them”.
In the two constituencies in central Kashmir where he ran, Budgam and Ganderbal, Omar won handily on Tuesday. After the results, he expressed gratitude to the electorate and declared that “After 2018, a democratic set up will take charge in J&K. The BJP took aim at political parties from Kashmir, especially the National Conference, and tried to weaken us and attempted to create parties against us; these have been decimated in this election.”
The National Conference is the only party with the majority in this election after winning 42 of the 56 seats it ran for. The party’s positioning as the main opposition to the BJP in J&K, which was demoted by the BJP-led Central government and converted from a state to a Union Territory in August 2019, was a major factor that helped the party win this election.
Omar now faces the huge challenge of administration, particularly since J&K is now a Union Territory with the Lieutenant Governor wielding most powers including the formal control of J&K Police, and transfer/ posting of government officers. “I would like to believe the honourable Prime Minister who has committed to restoring statehood. I don’t recall a speech where he said statehood would be restored only when the BJP is in power, or that if the people of J&K do not vote for the BJP, they will be punished.”
In response to remarks made by NC President Farooq Abdullah suggesting that he (Omar) will be the next Chief Minister, he stated that this decision would be made “by the allies together” following the National Conference’s parliamentary party conference. In a conversation with Farooq and Omar Abdullah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated them on their election wins.
The party, led by Omar, assumed the initiative in organizing the election and was the first to designate in-charges of constituencies as soon as the boundaries of Assembly segments were redrawn to reflect the seat delimitation. Because there was no misunderstanding regarding tickets and the candidates could begin working in their areas more than a year before the polls were announced, this provided the party’s candidates a major advantage over rivals.
Until July last week, Omar maintained he would not contest elections to a UT Assembly with limited powers. “I have been the chief minister of a full state and led the unified command. I can’t see myself in a position where I have to ask the L-G to pick my peon… sitting and waiting outside for him to sign the file,” he had told the media earlier.
But now, he is the prime contender for the CM’s post. Once the process of government formation is completed, Omar said, “Whoever is the next CM of J&K, I would expect them to travel to Delhi and meet the PM and other leaders and to impress upon them that the mandate of people of J&K was for the restoration of statehood, for development and peace.” He hoped that the J&K government is able to establish a decent working relationship with the Government of India.
Following the repeal of Article 370, Omar was arrested under the Public Safety Act in 2019–20, during a crackdown on Kashmir’s mainstream political leadership. He spent seven months in jail at Hari Niwas. His capacity “to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts,” according to the dossier that served as the foundation for his imprisonment.
He has presided over the National Conference for the past five years, reiterating the party’s catchphrase, “hal hi hal hai,” which alludes to the party’s emblem, the plow.
While conducting worker meetings all over J&K, Omar encouraged the participants to stay in touch with their constituents, even in the absence of any signs of an Assembly election.
Reading the animosity on the ground, the National Conference also took the lead in the effort to reinstate Article 370 by becoming the first party to submit a petition in the Supreme Court contesting the constitutionality of the Center’s decision to remove it. Even though the SC supported the Center’s decision in December 2023, Omar stated that the battle to reinstate Article 370 will go on.
The 54-year-old politician has been attempting to change his reputation after coming under fire for not speaking Kashmiri during his campaigns. When he speaks in the valley, he occasionally includes a few lines in the language. Ever since May of this year, he has been spotted campaigning alongside his sons, Zahir and Zamir. On Tuesday, as the NC exploded in excitement after becoming the only party to win the majority in this election, they were also by his side.
