The National Conference (NC), one of the main regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday announced the candidature of a high-profile tribal politician in a hotly contested constituency ahead of the general 2024 elections.
The NC in a statement named five-time legislator and former cabinet minister Mian Altaf Larvi as the party's candidate for the Anantnag constituency.
Who is Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi?
The 67-year-old comes from a long line of politicians, with his father and grandfather having won every election since 1962.
While the Larvi family has maintained a stronghold through a single state legislative seat that it has won since 1962, the junior Larvi receives support through several assembly seats due to the presence of Gujjar population in the mountainous Pir Panjal belt of Kashmir region.
The community is considered economically backward but influential in Kashmir.
A source in the NC said Larvi was a "natural choice" after the recent rift between the Gujjar and Pahari communities in Kashmir. The federal government earlier this year granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Pahari community, ensuring them reservation in government jobs and educational institutions.
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard on the road loading towards Zojila tunnel before the arrival of Indian transport minister in Sonamarg, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021.
© AP Photo / Dar Yasin
The Anantnag Seat Conundrum
The Anantnag seat represented South Kashmir until the last general election. The delimitation of constituencies, triggered by the federal government's 2019 bill to revoke J&K's semi-autonomous status, has changed the structure of the seat. It now includes most of the mountainous Pir Panjal range, home to tribal populations. With Larvi's as a candidate, other political parties in the region will face an uphill task to find a stronger name.
With the restoration of the South Kashmir seat, the BJP was eyeing for its first ever victory in Kashmir.
The party has yet to win a single state assembly or Lok Sabha seat in the Muslim-majority Kashmir division, though it has a strong base in the Hindu-majority Jammu province. It has won Jammu's two Lok Sabha seats consecutively since 2014, and has won 25 state assembly seats.
The BJP has not yet fielded a candidate from any of the three seats in Kashmir, nor has the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the other regional power in Kashmir.
The NC had entered into an electoral alliance with the INC last month, alienating the PDP. The NC had said it would contest all three seats in the Kashmir division.
Both the NC and the PDP are part of the INDIA Alliance, a coalition of pan-Indian parties opposed to the ruling BJP. The parties are also part of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Deceleration (PAGD) alliance, a group of political parties calling for the restoration of Kashmir's statehood, which was revoked by the Indian federal government in August 2019.
The PDP has maintained a stronghold in the Anantnag constituency, especially since its leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti belongs to the region. However, the stronghold has weakened over the years, with Mehbooba even losing the last assembly elections in 2019.
“Winning won’t be easy but it’s not impossible. No matter what the result will be, we will fight the general at least on the Anantnag seat,” a PDP politician said requesting anonymity.