Lion in winter

Faroog Abdullah in the forefront of regional parties as J&K prepares for assembly elections

- TARIQ BHAT

ON DECEMBER 5, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was reelected unopposed as president of the National Conference for the fourth time. The election was held at the lakeside mausoleum of his father, the party’s founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, at Hazratbal in Srinagar, on his 117th birthday. Party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said Abdullah, 85, was the unanimous choice of the delegates.

The party had announced a fortnight earlier that Abdullah would not stand for election. He has been its president since 1981, except during 2002-09 when his son, Omar, held the post. Abdullah, however, opted for yet another term, possibly to stop the BJP, which is going all out to win the upcoming assembly elections.

Abdullah's reelection is expected to rejuvenate National Conference supporters, who see the BJP as their biggest challenge. He is also the president of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, which seeks the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution and statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Gupkar Alliance members like the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party, the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference are likely to join hands with the Congress and the Democratic Azad Party of former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to keep the BJP at bay, although they will not be fighting the elections together. Azad and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP have hailed Abdullah's reelection.