SRINAGAR: With Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti stepping aside, Omar Abdullah and Iltija Mufti have emerged as key figures in Jammu and Kashmir’s political landscape.
Two of Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief ministers, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have refrained from contesting the upcoming Assembly elections in the union territory. This has opened up space for young leaders like Omar Abdullah (son of Farooq Abdullah) and Iltija Mufti (daughter of Mehbooba Mufti) to establish their leadership in the union territory.
Although Omar has been in electoral politics for more than two decades, contesting his first election in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, he could never be a standalone leader capable of steering the former state’s politics.
A political analyst said, “The primary movers of Jammu and Kashmir politics have been his father Farooq Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Saeed. Now senior Abdullah has slid away from electoral politics giving the greater space to Omar. The senior Mufti is no more alive and his daughter Mehbooba is facing anti-incumbency which has forced her to pass the baton of electoral politics to her daughter Iltija, who will head the elections for PDP.”
Moreover, party insiders suggest, senior Abdullah’s role in the party affairs has reduced as compared to the earlier times due to his old age. A political analyst added, “The senior Abdullah is facing health issues and people close to him would subsequently find themselves less important in the party as Omar has taken up the charge within the party as well. Farooq Abdullah as the head of the party gives the party some weight, but internally, Omar is practicing his expanded role.”
Another factor pushing the senior leaders to not contest in the elections is their diminishing popularity. Consequently, people have less good memories of senior leaders’ contribution in the progress of the former state. With the Assembly elections taking place after a decade, there is a demographic change with the public, now eligible for voting in the Assembly for the first time in 10 years, giving way for a huge chunk of youngsters to have a defining role in the elections.
An expert said, “Engineer Rashid won only because of youth voting him in droves. The same support is not enjoyed any other leader. He has become very popular among masses.”
A political observer said, “During the time of National Conference, people of Kashmir faced a lot of problems. Maybe Omar could not administer the state well, and later, when Mehbooba Mufti came to power, her alliance with BJP turned out to be unceremonious as Article 370 and statehood were taken away from Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, people will think twice before voting them if there is a strong candidate against them. Else, they will win in the Kashmir Valley with the anti-BJP narrative.”