Srinagar- The Kupwara assembly segment in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district is poised for an intense electoral battle with Peoples Conference (PC) and National Conference fielding their heavyweights with decades old political legacies.
PC has fielded its president Sajad Gani Lone, son of its founder and charismatic leader late. Abdul Gani Lone, NC has chosen Nasir Aslam Wani, a close confidante of Omar Abdullah and grandson of former minister late Ghulam Nabi Sogami.
The last-minute entry of Lone has changed electoral dynamics in the segment, turning it into a direct fight between him and Sogami.
Lone’s decision to contest from Kupwara, according to political observers, is seen as a “bold” move given that the segment, which comprises parts of the erstwhile segments of Lolab, Handwara and Kupwara, is not considered a safe seat for his party. Lone is fighting from both Handwara and Kupwara segments.
While Lone has maintained grip over Handwara for more than a decade now, winning Kupwara would be a real challenge for him.
Sources in PC said that Lone was under pressure from the party workers to fight himself from Kupwara. “His decision to contest from here has boosted the morale of our cadre. We are hopeful of victory. There is a lot of goodwill for our leader in Kupwara district due to big-ticket projects brought by him in his brief stint as minister in J&K government from 2015 to 2018,” said a local PC leader.
Sogami, whose grandfather Ghulam Nabi Sogami was a minister, returned to play second innings of politics from his native district of Kupwara in November 2022 when he was appointed as constituency in-charge of Kupwara.Nasir Sogami won the 2008 assembly segment from Amira Kadal assembly segment of Srinagar but lost the next election to Altaf Bukhari by a heavy margin. Sogami is banking on the party’s traditional votebank and support of senior leaders like Mir Saifullah and Qaiser Jamsheed Lone. Saifullah and Qaiser had previously represented the areas now constituting the Kupwara segment.
The other candidates in the fray include Fayaz Ahmad Mir(PDP) and Firdous Ahmad Baba(AIP).In the recent Lok Sabha polls, Mir, who was PDP candidate for Baramulla Lok Sabha, finished fourth in Kupwara assembly segment.
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