Two former CM’s from J&K Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti decide not to contest assembly elections

Two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir have decided to not contest the assembly elections. NCP leader Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have decided to not contest the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir which are to be held next year. Both of them have decided that they will not contest the elections until the central government restores statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir was converted into a Union Territory on August 4, 2019. Since then, the regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been pushing for the restoration of statehood.

”Omar has said from the beginning that if the statehood is not restored, he won’t fight elections,” said National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had also said that she will not contest the assembly elections. Mehbooba had said that the next assembly election is not her priority, neither is attaining power.

”Election is not my priority personally. Elections will happen, and my party will participate but my priority is to fight the prevailing situation in the valley. People are suffocated, there is monitoring everywhere, they have caged our thoughts as well. There is so much suppression and so many arrests, poor boys are being taken to jails outside J&K, unemployment issues. Our existence is under threat, the BJP is trying to finish our existence,” said Mehbooba.

While both the former chief ministers have decided to not contest the upcoming assembly elections, their parties–National Conference and PDP–will be contesting the assembly polls. PDP has been pushing for a coalition between all People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) parties with an agenda to keep BJP away from power.