Zadibal assembly constituency has been a traditional stronghold of the National Conference. In 1983 assembly elections, the polling percentage was as high as 89% . After the 1987 elections, the voting percentage came down considerably as a majority of people boycotted these elections.
As Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal districts in Central Kashmir will go for assembly polls on September 20th, a tough contest between National Conference’s Tanvir Sadiq and Peoples Conference’s Abid Hussain Ansari is expected. Abid Ansari was elected as MLA from Zadibal during 2014 elections on People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. There are some prominent independent candidates in the fray as well like ex-Mayor of Srinagar, Junaid Mattu. PDP has also fielded its candidate Gowhar Ali.
The Returning Officer for Zadibal assembly segment has accepted the candidature of 15 candidates. The nomination papers of four candidates were rejected. There are now eleven candidates in the fray and locals whom this author interacted said that the main fight is between NC & PC candidates. Junaid Mattu who was earlier eyeing on Shia vote bank in Dal Lake area is now eyeing on the Bakra votes (the supporters of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq).The Zadibal constituency was considered to be the stronghold of National Conference as Soura area falls under this assembly segment. NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah belonged to Soura locality of Srinagar and that is why Zadibal was considered to be a high profile assembly constituency. After delimitation, some areas like Kalaiandar, Rainwari, Jogi Lanker and surrounding areas of Dal have also been included in the Zadibal assembly segment.
1972 election
The Zadibal assembly segment was represented by Saleem Anwar Dar, an independent candidate in 1972. This was the time when the National Conference had been pushed to the wall by Congress Govt at centre. Saleem Anwar Dar had secured 6173 votes out of 18692 votes that had been polled. Another independent candidate Aga Syed Afzal Jalali secured second position with 3491 votes. There were around 32,000 registered voters in Zadibal in the 1972 assembly election. Sadiq Ali who was later on elected as MLA of the area from National Conference in 1996 had also contested from Zadibal seat as an independent candidate and had secured 753 votes. Ghulam Nabi Nowshehri a noted fr Jamat e Islami leader was also contesting from this constituency and had secured 650 votes.
1977 election
In the 1977 historical election, which was said to be a transparent election held in Kashmir’s history, thesitting MLA of that time, Saleem Anwar Dar, lost to his nearest rival Ghulam Ahmad Shunthoo who was a National Conference (NC) candidate. Shunthoo had secured 23,401 votes while Saleem Anwar who was contesting on Janata Party ticket gave a tough fight to NCs candidate by getting 21,522 votes. Jamaat e Islami candidate Ghulam Nabi Nowshehri managed to get mere 469 votes. There were no other candidates in the fray and polling percentage was recorded as 81.71 % . During the 1977 elections Zadibal had 56400 registered voters out of which 45,392 voted.
Historic 1983 election
In 1983 assembly elections, which were held after the death of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1982, National Conference candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid who was a close relative of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Dr Farooq Abdullah got almost 50,000 votes which is a record in Kashmir’s electoral history. Sheikh Rashid got 88% of the total votes and the polling percentage was 88.93%. Jahangir Ali Khan, an independent candidate, had secured 4000 votes. Congress and Peoples Conference had also fielded its candidates namely Mohammad Amin Bhat and Mohammad Ashraf in Zadibal in 1983 but they managed to get only 1710 and 545 votes respectively. Jamat-e-Islami had not fielded any candidate from Zadibal area in 1983 assembly elections.
1987 election
During the infamous 1987 assembly elections which are said to have been rigged in many places and was followed by militancy in Kashmir, there were only three candidates in the fray namely Peer Mohammad Shafi (NC), Peer Abdul Rouf (Independent) and A R Wani (Independent). Peer Mohammad Shafi secured 27,316 votes while his nearest rival Peer Abdul Rouf who was the candidate of Muslim United Front (MUF) managed to get 22,121 votes. A R Wani got only 755 votes. The polling percentage in 1987 elections in Zadibal assembly constituency was more than 71%.
1996, 2002, 2008 and 2014 elections
In 1996, mere 12% votes were cast during assembly elections and Sadiq Ali became MLA of the Zadibal by getting 2948 votes. His nearest rival Ghulam Hassan Bhat of Janata Dal got 1451 votes.
In 2002, Zadibal had the lowest voter turnout in the assembly elections. A mere 4 % votes were polled as there was a massive boycott call given by Hurriyat and Militant groups. An independent candidate Shahjahan Dar won the elections by securing only 1500 votes. He defeated his nearest rival Sadiq Ali with around 300 votes. Sadiq Ali who is father of present NC candidate Tanvir Sadiq had obtained 1220 votes. PDP which formed the Govt in 2002 with Congress had also fielded a candidate namely A R Wani from Zadibal but he managed to get only 54 votes. BJP , Congress and Panthers party had also fielded their candidates from Zadibal in 2002.
During 2008 assembly elections, Peer Afaq Ahmad became MLA of Zadibal . He is the son of former MLA of Zadibal Peer Mohammad Shafi. The polling percentage in 2008 was 17% and there were around 16 candidates contesting from Zadibal. The sitting MLA in 2008 Shahijahan Dar who had joined PDP secured 3094 votes. Tanvir Sadiq who is contesting on NC’s mandate now was an independent candidate in 2008 elections. He was associated with PDP from 2006 to 2008 and was elected as corporator from Zadibal area.
In 2008 assembly polls, Tanvir obtained 2759 votes from Zadibal with a vote share of around 22%. He later on joined National Conference soon after 2008 assembly elections and with the passage of time became a close confidant of Omar Abdullah.
In the 2014 assembly elections, Abid Hussain Ansari, who was associated with PDP at that time, won from Zadibal by securing 7852 votes. His nearest rival Peer Afaq of National Conference got 4849 votes and lost by 3003 votes. There were 14 candidates in the election fray and the polling percentage in 2014 was almost 24%. In 2014, Zadibal had almost 77000 registered voters which is now more than 1.30 lakhs.
Scenario after delimitation
After the delimitation exercise, the Shia vote bank has been consolidated in the Zadibal now as all the interior areas of Dal, Nigeen and Anchar lakes have been included with the Zadibal assembly constituency. The Hazratbal shrine area is also part of Zadibal assembly segment which earlier was part of Hazratbal assembly constituency. NC candidate Tanvir Sadiq through his party’s manifesto has promised one lakh jobs and development of roads and bridges if elected to power. He has also promised to develop Mir Behri Dal as a tourist village. Former Mayor Junaid Mattu, who was corporator from Mir Behri is now eyeing on both Shia and Sunni votes especially Bakra votes. Sheikh Imran, an independent candidate from Khanyar is helping him with that. Both Junaid and Imran originally hail from downtown Srinagar, but have been living in Ishber and Bagat areas for many decades. Will Junaid manage to get votes from Mir Behri and other Shia pockets of Zadibal along with Sunni Bakra votes? This all will be clear on October 8th when results of J&K assembly elections will be announced.
Conclusion
Zadibal assembly constituency which had once witnessed almost 89% polling in 1983 assembly elections and 71% in 1987 saw a massive shift. Like many other areas of Srinagar, people in this area were boycotting elections. The polling percentage graph came down to mere 4 % in 2002 assembly polls. The local residents whom this author met in many areas of the Shia and Sunni localities of Zadibal told me that people will come out to vote this time in large numbers. It is expected that Zadibal will witness more than 50% polling on September 25th when elections for Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam districts will be held.
- Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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