Ruling NC felt heat this summer when its charming patriach Dr Abdullah lost election for the first time. In quick follow-up, Abdullah scion left Ganderbal to an erstwhile Congressman. Tasavur Mushtaq visits Sindh valley to report the spillover, touching even Baltal
A lot of water has flown from Sindh Valley since 2008. The poll mood seems different due to swift change in political equations in once King’s Constituency. Probably it was this ‘altered’ mood that forced the third generation Abdullah to desert his family seat for safe-havens like Beerwah and Sonwar. But NC detractors are saying that by ‘surrendering’ Sindh Omar shelved his 2002 poll fate, when he became the first and the only Abdullah to face defeat from Ganderbal since 1975.
Scheduled for the first phase, Ganderbal segment (with 90,573 poll strength) will have no Abdullah among the total thirteen candidates in the fray for the first time. Omar’s late flight, however, has deprived the constituency from the honour to elect chief minister of the state.
Ganderbal became default legacy for Abdullahs after NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah chose it to re-join mainstream politics after “22 years of political wilderness”. After successfully contesting state assembly bi-elections, former Prime Minister of J&K, became its chief minister. Behind his ascend to throne was the sacrifice of a lawyer-turned-politician and Congressman Muhammad Maqbool Bhat who vacated Ganderbal seat for Sheikh Abdullah.
After Sheikh’s demise, his son Dr Farooq Abdullah won 1983, 1987 and 1996 elections from Ganderbal. Till Omar took over party’s command in 2002, no Abdullah had lost election from Ganderbal.
Even before Sheikh’s entry into Ganderbal, it had remained a NC stronghold. In 1957, Ghulam Ahmad Sofi represented the constituency for the party
followed by NC’s Abdul Salam Aitu in 1962. Except for 1967 and 1972 elections when Congress’s Mohammad Maqbool Bhat won the seat, Ganderbal remained NC’s bastion.
The long standing of Abdullahs ended recently. Unlike Sheikh and his son Farooq, Omar was never placed “comfortably” in Ganderbal. In 2002, he was humbled by a little known politician Qazi Muhammad Afzal. Omar’s ‘fall from grace’ had made Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to quip: “It is like me being thrown out of the Jamia Masjid!”
But now when Omar ‘surrendered his family legacy’ NC is now apparently standing on a sticky wicket in Ganderbal. But one question is still being asked: Why Omar left Ganderbal?
Decision to leave Ganderbal was taken two years ago, Omar claims. But many who are well-versed with the development assert: the decision to ‘quit the legacy’ was taken at the last moment.
But mainly three factors are being attributed behind Omar’s ‘escape’. First, the prominent and former NC men in Ganderbal are up in polls against NC this time around. Second, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar would have gone ‘either’ way if denied mandate as ‘his joining of NC was based on condition of mandate’. Third, ‘Omar had failed to fulfil promises made prior to 2008 polls’.
“Where is Omar’s model district?” Mukhtar Ahmad, a local of Ganderbal, asks. “Omar promised us that he will come every Thursday and spend time with people. He even constructed quarter for the purpose, but did he ever thought about it.” Similarly, he says, the construction of Central University in Ganderbal didn’t move beyond fencing.
After his defeat in 2002, Omar was literally on his toes to retain Ganderbal. He went door-to-door for votes. He sought “forgiveness” for the past neglect. People reposed faith in him; and Omar regained the “lost pride” in 2008. “The decision to go back and stand from Ganderbal was an emotional rather than a practical one,” Omar said after winning Ganderbal seat in 2008.
But in 2014, Omar walked away from Ganderbal. He probably felt the heat of “growing dissent” in NC. As among his rivals, two are decades old leaders of NC; Sheikh Ghulam Ahmad Saloora and Mohammad Yousuf Bhat. Though off late NC leader and MLC, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool also joined PDP, but locals say the former chief secretary is “not in good books of people.”
Both Saloora and Bhat (both former confidante of Dr Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah) are all fire against NC. Bhat is Congress’s candidate from Ganderbal, while Saloora floated his own party Awami Insaaf Party (AIP), but he has filed nomination as independent candidate.
When militancy was at its peak, Saloora didn’t leave Ganderbal and even was Farooq Abdullah’s chief election agent in1996 election. After serving for “40 years,” one fine day Saloora quietly quit the party.
The trigger, many believe, was Showkat Ahmad Mir’s (former deputy commissioner Ganderbal) elevation to provincial president post. NC under Omar had replaced Saloora with Mir for the post. This miffed Saloora, who felt “ditched” and “down”. “I survived many life attempts for the party,” asserts Saloora, “and have lost vital organs to the car bomb blast. But even then, I was never given due share of my sacrifice.”
Travelling in a same boat is Congress’s Muhammad Yousuf Bhat who has stirred up hornet’s nest by naming his daughters as “liability” in his affidavit. Before joining Congress, Bhat was NC man since Indira-Abdullah accord.
Omar had appointed Bhat as his constituency representative in the winter of 2010. But he was immediately removed after being accused to have paid an amount of Rs 84 lakh to another NC activist, Syed Yousuf, allegedly for getting him a ministerial berth and a seat in legislative council. Syed Yousuf died under mysterious conditions.
With polls barely a few days away, Bhat is busy in “party convention” where around fifty people have turned up. His supporters raise frequent slogans: “Omar tchoel Beero, Laa’li Banoev He’roo (Omar left for Beerwah, Laa’le, Bhat, became hero).”
Once a ‘close consultant’ of Omar, Bhat is believed to be an ‘eye witness’ of Syed Yousuf murder case. But he remains tight-lipped about the incident. “We have to move forward, what lies in past,” he says. “But yes, Nasir Aslam Wani and Devendra Singh Rana visited my home in the dead of night, and asked for forgiveness.”
After parting his ways from NC, Bhat’s NC bashing continues. Omar used to interact with administration than his workers, he says, “Where is his DC and SP now?”
Having an edge in Repora and Lar, Bhat reveals whenever Omar needed people for public gathering or filing nomination in Amira Kadal for Nasir Sogami, Omar used to call him: ‘Yousuf logun ko laav.’
But now those holding important party posts have come from nowhere, he rues. “But those who have shed blood and sweat for the party have been discarded,” he says in an apparent reference to provincial presidents of NC Nasir Aslam Wani (Kashmir) and D S Rana (Jammu). “See, they gave MLC berth to Sheikh Ghulam Rasool and sidelined me and Saloora. But now, results are in front of everybody.”
Accusing Omar and his ministers for getting their men from different areas and adjusted them in various departments in Ganderbal, sidelining the local youth. “See we have people from Nowhatta, Khanyar, Tangmarg. Where will youth of Ganderbal go?”
But in the face of mounting criticism, NC isn’t down and out of Ganderbal. The cop-turned-politician, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar is holding NC’s ‘fort’ in the times when resentment against Omar and his party has peaked in Ganderbal.
Though Ishfaq terms his NC joining as “homecoming,” but he knows his home turf won’t be a cakewalk for him. A son of slain Sheikh Muhammad Jabbar, Ishfaq immediately suffers from ‘credibility crises’. For NC loyalists, Ishfaq is an outsider who heavily relies on the vote-bank his father had created.
Sheikh Jabbar is believed to have ‘worked extensively for the area and specifically in generating employment’. “In Ishfaq we see Jabbar sahib,” says Ali Muhammad Teli, a political worker from Ganderbal.
For NC voters, Ishfaq is a former Congressman who was pitted against Omar in 2008 polls. Not only this, the party loyalist still remembers that Ishfaq’s father, Sheikh Jabbar, who was a close confidante of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah severed ties with the NC in 1984 and joined rebel group led by G M Shah by ‘defection’. During Shah’s tenure as chief minister, Sheikh Jabbar served as law minister.
But now, Omar’s exit has made Ishfaq’s journey a uphill task, believes locals. Ishfaq may have gained ground, had Omar formally come to Ganderbal and announced his decision in a public meeting, locals believe: “This would have given positive signals that Omar did all this with a purpose and he is not ‘nervous’ to stand in Ganderbal.”
Instead Omar took to Twitter: “Having decided two years ago that I wouldn’t seek re-election from Ganderbal I have continued to work for the constituency and will always do so.”
Ishfaq’s “homecoming,” has rekindled some hope for NC in Ganderbal. On top of it, Jabbar Jr openly states: “People had no access to Omar as he was busy.” The statement, many believe, is aimed at to set records straight in Ganderbal.
Far from the clamour emanating from NC’s fractured camp, PDP’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal is calm, content and confident of his victory, saying: “This time around, I have no stiff competition.” Behind Afzal’s confidence, many say, is Abdullah’s absence from the poll scene.
A former timber trader, Afzal made history in 2002 by defeating Omar Abdullah, the only Abdullah that ever fell from Ganderbal. “Qazi Hamara, Gazi Hai,” the slogan gripped Ganderbal after his win.
As of now, Afzal’s only prick is coming from his own party. The latest entry of Sheikh Ghulam Rasool into PDP has apparently tarnished the party’s image. “Sheikh is vote-less and rootless,” quips PDP’s foot soldier in Ganderbal.
Apart from ‘converted’ Sheikh, there is Farooq Ganderbali whose entry into PDP has reportedly dented the party image. A former confidante of Ghulam Hassan Mir, Ganderbali is believed to be closer to ‘intelligence agencies’.
Barring these incidents, Afzal seems unfazed. “No doubt, Ishfaq is Sheikh Jabbar’s son,” he admits, “but surely, he is not Sheikh Abdullah’s grandson.” Spreading a deep smile, he continues: “I don’t even count Ishfaq as a strong opponent.”
With the dawn of the first phase of polling in state, Kangan will vote along with Ganderbal. This segment of Sindh is believed to be a NC stronghold where religious and political loyalties to the Mian family have stood the party for three generations. But the upcoming polls have apparently put the ‘invincible’ Mian clan especially its favourite son Mian Altaf in tight spot, as he is face-to-face against PDP’s ‘confident candidate’ Bashir Ahmad Mir.
Altaf is in field for the fourth time. Earlier he won the 1987 elections from Kangan on Congress ticket; and was fielded by the NC in 1996, 2002 and 2008.
And since then, he is ‘invincible’ in state polls.
Politics runs deep in Mian clan. Altaf’s father, the highly respected Gujjar leader Mian Bashir Ahmad represented this seat thrice: 1967, 1972 and 1977.
While his grandfather, Mian Nizamuddin won Kangan in 1957 and 1962.
“Kangan being NC stronghold is because of Mian family,” says Mushtaq Khan, a local, “the members of this family have emerged winners even before their association with NC.”
But after the summer defeat in parliamentary polls, many say, tables have turned in Mian bastion. Though Gujjars (forming 49 per cent of total electorate in Kangan) regard the Mians as their religious and political leaders, but this time around, “mood for a change” is growing in Kangan’s 69,408 vote segment.
Also in the fray are: Congress’s Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh, BJP’s Nazir Ahmad Raina, BSP’s Muhammad Sultan Lone and Peoples Conference’s Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, but the main battle is between Mian and Mir.
“We are comfortably placed,” asserts Altaf. For Altaf development is “non issue” in elections; he believes the area has seen “massive development” during last six years, but he is ‘generous’ enough to admit that his constituency is plagued with unemployment.
Over the years, PDP under Mir has managed to minimise the loss margin. Though Mir lost to Mian in 2008 with the margin of 7,700 votes, but now, he is banking on “anti-incumbency” factor to defeat Mian in upcoming contest.
Mir’s poll trump card is his ground connection. They call him “brave-heart” in Kangan after his recent flood heroics. Besides being a Baltal business leader, he had stood for business community many times in past to “give priority to the rights of locals”. On the top of it, Mir is playing it poll game very ‘intelligently,’ highlighting ‘rot’ in NC regime and ‘reward’ in PDP’s “brief” stint.
“When we have only one horse in race,” Mir says. “There is no option even if it is handicapped. But now, there is alternative and people are wise to decide.”
What can also click for Mir is the fast dwindling of Gujjar support for Mians. Some Gujjars are irked because of: their ‘ancient life’, shambled roads and Mian’s rich inclination. “Gujjars of Rajouri and Poonch get more benefit than us,” assets Gulzar Khan, a local Gujjar.
Besides this, NC’s setback is Mian Javid (Mian Altaf’s cousin) close to PDP. This may end up devouring clan’s NC votes.
Tourism and labour (main stay of Kangan) will be deciding factor, locals claim. “Sonmarg has been vandalized by ‘men in power’ for their personal gains,” claims Firdous Ahmad, a local. It is reported that Altaf owns few hotels in area with local partners. PDP’s Mir also ‘runs a restuarant ‘ in Sonamarg. “Mian Altaf being local facilitated plundering of Sonmarg,” claims one local. “For them, no law exists.”
Amid all this, vehicles of both parties honking in busy Kangan bazaar are playing election specified songs loud. Campaigning apart, accusations and counter accusations are making their way. PDP’s green banners and buntings (unheard of in Kangan earlier) are outscoring NC’s iconic red marked by plough.
As the poll season has set in, ‘the party of plough’ appears in tight spot in Sindh Valley due to poll pragmatics launched by ‘the party of pen and inkpot’. But the contest between ‘red and green’ is expected to throw new surprises in Sindh valley, where ‘surrender’ is still being talked about.
