The Hindu : Discontent in NC over distribution of ticket

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 24, 2002

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Discontent in NC over distribution of ticket

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR AUG. 23. Difficult days are ahead for the new president of the National Conference, Omar Abdullah, as resentment is reported to be brewing in the rank and file of the party over the manner in which the candidates have been selected for the first phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The list of 26 candidates, released on Thursday, for the first phase of polling in Kupwara, Baramulla, Rajouri, Poonch, Leh and Kargil districts, has not only surprised many but has also been received with "shock" by a section of the party. The way the candidates have been handpicked by the "high-power" parliamentary board, it has become clear that the new party president was prepared to accommodate the views of the seniors who want to push through their choice of candidates.

Though Omar Abdullah's preference for new faces is well-known, he has not been able to get even a single nominee in the first round and the remaining phases remain a "distant dream" for him. He is believed to have almost fought to get his "blue-eyed boy" and the Youth National Conference leader, Nasir Sogami, nominated for Lolab constituency to replace the sitting MLA and Minister, Mushtaq Lone, against whom serious charges of corruption had reportedly been levelled. Similarly, he wanted to replace many others but at least two members of the board not only managed to prevail upon the Senior Minister, Mohiuddin Shah, the general secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, but also the Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, against the move.

The candidature of Shariefuddin Shariq from Langate, though seen as Omar's choice, is a member of the group, which is calling the shots in the board.

A group of party leaders have united themselves to fight what they called the "manipulations of a senior Minister'' to register his writ by getting a good number of his candidates nominated for the elections.

"There is a complete swing in the board as it has been constituted in a way making it advantageous to a particular faction in the party'' said a senior leader adding that "this group has managed to get the support of two important members who were supposed to go with the party president''. Party sources said the resentment in the rank and file could damage the party's prospects in the elections.

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