Anantnag- The main Anantnag assembly segment in south Kashmir is set to witness a close contest between four candidates, including one independent who was previously associated with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and People’s Conference (PC).
The four candidates in the running include National Conference-Congress Alliance candidate Peerzada Mohammad Sayed, Dr Mehboob Beigh of the PDP, Hilal Ahmad Shah of Apni Party, and independent candidate Peer Mansoor.
Peerzada Mohammad Sayed
Peerzada Mohammad Sayed is a prominent politician from Jammu & Kashmir, affiliated with the Congress party. He has served as the President of the Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee and has been elected four times as an MLA from the Kokernag constituency. Sayed, who has held several ministries, is contesting elections from another constituency as his own seat is ST-reserved Larnoo. However, the backing of NC makes him a strong contender.
Dr Mehboob Beigh
Dr Mehboob Beigh, son of Mirza Afzal Beigh, was associated with NC for a long time but later joined PDP. Beigh has been elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, and the Indian Parliament multiple times. He has also served as the Cabinet Minister for Health, Family Welfare, and Medical Education. With the political influence his family, especially his father Afzal Beigh had, Dr Beigh is also a main contender for the seat.
Hilal Ahmad Shah
Hilal Ahmad, who was associated with the Indian National Congress for a long time, joined the Apni Party a few years ago. Shah, who also served as Municipal Corporation Anantnag Chairperson, secured around 11,000 votes against former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayed in 2014 and may turn the tables this time.
Peerzada Mansoor Hussain
Peer Mansoor Hussain, a former MLA of the Shangus constituency, is fighting the election as an independent candidate after having been associated with the PDP and Apni Party. Mansoor has a good voter base in the area and can pose tough competition to the other three candidates, who are backed by their respective parties.
Others
The Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s (DPAP) Mir Altaf Hussain and BJP’s Syed Peerzada Wajahat Hussain can also secure a good share of votes, further dividing the vote share among the main four contenders.
Political analysts believe that the NC-Congress alliance candidate Peerzada Mohammad Sayed’s non-residency in the constituency may be a weak factor, but NC candidate Peer Mohammad Hussain’s full support could help Sayed win. According to them, Dr Mehboob Beigh’s and his father’s long representation of the constituency may help Beigh regain the seat.
Analysts add that Hilal Shah, who secured around 11,000 votes against Mufti Mohammad Sayed on a Congress ticket in 2014, can once again attract a good number of votes. Furthermore, Peerzada Mansoor, who represented the Shangus constituency on a PDP ticket in 2014, could leverage the fact that villages formerly part of Shangus are now part of Anantnag, and boost his vote share and help him win.
In the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections, JKPDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed won the seat with a margin of 6,028 votes. He secured 16,983 votes, with a vote share of 51.20%. He defeated Congress candidate Hilal Ahmad Shah, who garnered 10,955 votes (33.03%). NC candidate Iftikhar Hussain Misger came third with 2,403 votes (7.24%), and BJP candidate Mohd Rafiq Wani was in fourth place with just 1,275 votes (3.84%). A total of 33,200 votes were polled (39.71%).
In the 2008 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections, PDP leader Mufti Sayeed won the seat, polling 12,439 votes with a vote share of 39.49%. NC candidate Mirza Mehboob Beigh got 7,548 votes (23.96%) and was the runner-up. Sayeed defeated Beigh by a margin of 4,891 votes. A total of 31,501 votes were polled (41.23%). Independent candidate Liyaqat Ali Khan came in third with 1,895 votes (6.02%), and another independent candidate, Hilal Ahmad Shah, was in fourth place with 1,683 votes (5.34%).
AC 44-Anantnag contains 61,070 voters (30,645 males, 30,425 females) with 70 polling stations (43 urban and 27 rural). AC 45-Srigufwara-Bijbehara has 1,02,081 voters (50,728 males, 51,353 females) with 125 polling stations (16 urban and 109 rural). Historically, the Anantnag seat was represented by Mirza Afzal Beg of the National Conference in 1951. In 1962, 1967, and 1972, it was represented by Shamasuddin of the Indian National Congress. Beg held the seat in 1974 and 1977, followed by Mirza Mehboob Beg in 1983. In 1987, Mohammad Syeed Shah, an independent, won the seat, followed by Safdar Ali Beg of NC in 1996. Mehboob Beigh won the seat in 2002, followed by Mufti Sayeed in 2008 and 2014, and Mehbooba Mufti in the by-elections of 2016.
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