https://sputniknews.in/20240226/kashmir-kicks-off-election-season-as-parties-reveal-candidatures--6671478.html
Kashmir Kicks Off Election Season as Parties Reveal Candidatures
Kashmir Kicks Off Election Season as Parties Reveal Candidatures
Sputnik India
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are bracing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections held for the seats in India's lower house of the parliament.
2024-02-26T20:23+0530
2024-02-26T20:23+0530
2024-02-26T20:23+0530
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The election season has officially begun in the Kashmir region with Sajad Lone, separatist-turned-mainstream politician, announcing his candidacy from the Baramulla seat ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections in India.Lone, who heads the region’s Peoples Conference party, has served as a minister in the Bhartiya Janata Party and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alliance government in the Jammu and Kashmir region from 2015 to 2018.The Peoples Conference party, founded by Lone’s deceased father, Gani Lone, has the distinction of being a separatist as well as a mainstream political grouping.His party was part of an opposition alliance called the People's Alliance for Gupkar Deceleration, which consists of various political parties advocating for the restoration of Kashmir's autonomy. However, he decided to leave the alliance in 2021.Electioneering Kicks Off in KashmirThe Jammu and Kashmir region has five Lok Sabha seats and the Ladakh region has one. The major regional parties, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party, are part of the INDIA alliance, a conglomerate of pan-Indian parties opposed to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).The NC also intends to support opposition candidates from the Congress party in Jammu province, but is considering fielding a candidate in Ladakh. This plan may end up alienating the Peoples Democratic Party, which is hoping to field a candidate for at least one seat in the Jammu and Kashmir region, preferably Srinagar or the Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri seat, according to party insiders.Sajad Lone's party would also like the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to refrain from fielding a candidate in Baramulla.The request comes following the recent key victory in the hill development elections by the National Conference and Congress. A politician from Ladakh, speaking anonymously to Sputnik, revealed that the seat in Ladakh would be fiercely contested.Both parties are interested in fielding a candidate from the Ladakh constituency, which was secured by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 elections.The BJP FactorThe BJP has maintained a strong hold on the two seats in the Jammu province, winning both in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. The party's main competitor will be the Congress party, with support from regional parties. However, whether regional powers support Congress will depend on their satisfaction with the seat distribution.All parties will likely present the election results as the people's verdict on the decision to revoke the region's semi-autonomous status. The BJP, in particular, aims to compete for all six seats in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.Ashok Kaul, state general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's said, "There will be no pre poll alliance. Neither will the opposition alliances matter to the BJP".
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Kashmir Kicks Off Election Season as Parties Reveal Candidatures
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are bracing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections held for the seats in India's lower house of the parliament.
The election season has officially begun in the Kashmir region with Sajad Lone, separatist-turned-mainstream politician, announcing his candidacy from the Baramulla seat ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections in India.
Lone, who heads the region’s Peoples Conference party, has served as a minister in the Bhartiya Janata Party and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alliance government in the Jammu and Kashmir region from 2015 to 2018.
The Peoples Conference party, founded by Lone’s deceased father, Gani Lone, has the distinction of being a separatist as well as a mainstream political grouping.
His party was part of an opposition alliance called the People's Alliance for
Gupkar Deceleration, which consists of various political parties advocating for the restoration of Kashmir's autonomy. However, he decided to leave the alliance in 2021.
In a statement issued by the Peoples Conference on Monday, the party's General Secretary Imran Reza Ansari said, “leadership and the rank and file of the party has overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of our party president (Sajad Lone)”.
Electioneering Kicks Off in Kashmir
The Jammu and Kashmir region has five Lok Sabha seats and the Ladakh region has one. The major regional parties, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party, are part of the INDIA alliance, a conglomerate of pan-Indian parties opposed to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
While the INDIA alliance is yet to decide seat distribution in Jammu and Kashmir, sources in the National Conference told Sputnik that the party is leaning towards contesting on all three seats in Kashmir.
The NC also intends to support opposition candidates from the Congress party in Jammu province, but is considering fielding a candidate in Ladakh. This plan may end up alienating the Peoples Democratic Party, which is hoping to field a candidate for at least one seat in the Jammu and Kashmir region, preferably Srinagar or the Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri seat, according to party insiders.
Sajad Lone's party would also like the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to refrain from fielding a candidate in Baramulla.
The request comes following the recent key victory in the hill development
elections by the National Conference and Congress. A politician from Ladakh, speaking anonymously to
Sputnik, revealed that the seat in Ladakh would be fiercely contested.
“The PDP does not have a base here. It is either NC or
Congress that will field a candidate here. NC, according to me, has a better chance,” said the politician.
Both parties are interested in fielding a candidate from the Ladakh constituency, which was secured by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 elections.
The BJP has maintained a strong hold on the two seats in the Jammu province, winning both in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. The party's main competitor will be the
Congress party, with support from regional parties. However, whether regional powers support Congress will depend on their satisfaction with the seat distribution.
All parties will likely present the election results as the people's
verdict on the decision to revoke the region's semi-autonomous status. The BJP, in particular, aims to compete for all six seats in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
"Five seats in Jammu and Kashmir and one seat in Ladakh. We plan to contest candidates on all the seats," said Altaf Thakur, the BJP spokesperson in J&K.
Ashok Kaul, state general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's said, "There will be no pre poll alliance. Neither will the opposition alliances matter to the BJP".
