Kushagra Kumar
Is the electoral battle for the newly-created Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat shaping up to be a head-to-head clash between two arch rivals—the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party—or could J&K Apni Party’s Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a well-known Pahari community face, emerge as a surprise contender for the seat, especially following the withdrawal of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) founder and veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad from the race?
The moot question on everyone’s mind arises after the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during an election rally in Jammu on Tuesday, dropped enough hints that the BJP might not field its candidates on three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir, saying “the party is in no hurry to see lotus bloom in Valley”.
Sources told The Gaon Tribune that the representatives of Pahari community, which is going to play a decisive role in this Lok Sabha election, have started holdings small meetings in their respective areas in Rajouri and Poonch districts to take a call on supporting a candidate in case the BJP does not field its candidate from the seat.
The PDP has fielded former chief minister and its president Mehbooba Mufti from the seat. Mehbooba is filing his nomination papers in Anantnag today. The National Conference’s veteran leader Mian Altaf is also contesting from the seat and poses a major challenge to the PDP chief. The DPAP has decided to field Advocate Mohammad Saleem Parray, a District Development Commission (DDC) member, for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat after opted to not contest the polls.
“A crucial meeting of about 50-odd former Sarpanches and Panches belonging to Pahari community was held in Surankote on Wednesday wherein they deliberated on the supporting a particular candidate especially following the statement of the Union Home Minister who also made a fervent appeal to the voters that they should not vote in favour of dynastic parties, NC, Congress and PDP,” sources said.
Sources further said, “It was unanimously decided that the Pahari community people will support BJP or its backed candidate in the current Lok Sabha election. The Paharis are indebted to the BJP and its top leadership for fulfilling the decades-long pending demand by granting ST reservation to them”.
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The name of J&K Apni Party’s candidate Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, who originally belongs to a small hamlet near Poshana village on historic Mughal road in Poonch district, has also come under discussions as he is a popular Pahari community face and is considered as the architect of the movement launched by the community in favour of the demand for ST status, sources said.
“In case the BJP does not field its candidate from the seat, there is every possibility that the entire Pahari community’s support could gravitate towards Zaffar Iqbal Manhas who also enjoys solid rapport in some parts of South Kashmir. In such a scenario, he could emerge as a dark horse in the race for prestigious Anantnag-Rajouri seat,” sources said, adding “similar meetings are being planned in every nook and corner of Pahari community dominated areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts to ensure that the community votes don’t get divided”.
According to the official statistics, there are seven assembly segments of Poonch and Rajouri districts which are the part of Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat. These constituencies are Nowshera, Rajouri, Budhal, Thanna Mandi, Surankote, Poonch Haveli and Mendhar.
A total of 18,16,371 voters comprising 9,23,434 men and 8,92,910 women are in Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat. Out of them, as many as 7,29,830 voters are in seven assembly segments of Rajouri and Poonch districts, while the remaining 10,86, 541 voters are in eleven constituencies of three districts—Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts of Sought Kashmir.
The Pahari leaders claimed that nearly 60 percent of the total 7,29,830 voters in Rajouri and Poonch districts belong to the community while the remaining 40 percent are Gujjar and Bakerwal community votes. “The votes of Pahari community will prove to be a deciding factor in the victory of any candidate,” sources said.
Mehbooba Mufti had won this prestigious seat as a candidate of the PDP during the 2004 and 2014 parliamentary elections. However, she stood at number three in the 2019 parliamentary election on the same seat. The National Conference candidate Hasnain Masoodi emerged victorious with 40,180 votes, while Congress candidate Ghulam Ahmed Mir was runner-up in this seat he got 33,504 votes, while Mehbooba Mufti got 30,424 votes.
Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, founder of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and father of Mehbooba Mufti, had won this Parliamentary seat in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate.
