Stalwarts' sons to fight it out in Jammu & Kashmir

The upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the border state of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to become a battle turf between two generation-next politicians, namely chief of the state's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti and the opposition National Conference (NC) president Omar Abdullah.

They had locked horns from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in the last general elections with Omar emerging victorious by over 36,000 votes. Both of them are currently playing the waiting game before announcing their candidature.

It is highly unlikely that they will confront each other once again as Mehbooba is ready with the alternative plan to move to Anantnag constituency should Omar decide to seek re-election from Srinagar seat. Mehbooba's father and incumbent state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had been contesting the Anantnag seat, winning it in 1998 and losing in 1999.

Omar on the other hand is not too keen on contesting the Lok Sabha seat as he wants to concentrate in the state to avenge his party's defeat in 2002 state polls.

A defeat for him, after he failed to win a seat in the state assembly, may mar his political prospects in future. His father Farooq Abdullah, the former chief minister and currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, is among the short listed NC candidates.

The NC has deferred naming its candidates on the six Lok Sabha seats of the northern state saying it will wait until the PDP has come out with its list. While polling for Srinagar seat is scheduled for April 26, Anantnag will go to polls on May 5.

Lok Sabha polls in the state will be a virtual test for both Mehbooba and Omar to display that they are ready to take over mantles from their fathers. While NC, which had contested 1999 polls in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going it alone this time after pulling out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the PDP is wary about the state's ruing coalition falling apart.

The Panthers Party, partner in the state government, yesterday announced its decision to contest five out of six seats with the party chief Prof. Bhim Singh announcing the coalition has collapsed.

The Baramulla seat in the valley is now threatening to widen differences between the PDP and the Congress. While the Congress party wants to contest four seats, the PDP wants to contest three. PDP has no objection on Congress contesting Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh seats.

Likewise, the Congress has already offered Srinagar and Anantnag seats to the PDP.

Based on the outcome of 2002 state polls, the PDP that had done extremely well in the valley region of the state is laying its claim on the Baramulla seat, as it is part of the valley. The Congress party on the other hand has made contesting at least one seat form the valley lest it becomes a spent force in the region.

The Congress party had failed to win even a single seat form the state in 1999 although both Mufti and Mehbooba had contested then as the Congress party's nominees. Mufti launched PDP soon after the 1999 debacle and handed over reigns of the party to Mehbooba after becoming chief minister.

Simmering differences between the Congress party and the PDP may help the NC retain the Baramulla seat since its break up with the BJP may not affect its prospects much. If BJP is a non-entity in the valley, NC is far from being a force to reckon with in the Jammu region.