Srinagar: National Conference, which was rejected by the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time in 2002 polls, is now banking on the charisma of its patron Farooq Abdullah and several fresh faces to storm back to power in the ensuing Assembly elections.
Abdullah, who was in political hibernation for some time, has now returned to active politics and is contesting the elections from Hazratbal constituency instead of the prestigious Ganderbal -- a seat he has represented three times in a row between 1983 to 1996.
Instead, party president and Abdullah's son Omar Abdullah has been fielded from the Ganderbal constituency, where he had suffered a setback in 2002 Assembly polls when he lost to PDP candidate Qazi Mohammad Afzal.
Although National Conference emerged as the single largest party in 2002 polls, it was a huge blow to the party as Omar lost the elections to a political novice in the
constituency, considered as NC bastion.
Party insiders there was a lot of discussions in the party whether to field the father or the son from Ganderbal, but in the end it was decided that Omar be given a chance to
prove its mettle in state politics.
While announcing the party candidates for the 79 of the 87 constituencies in the state assembly, the National Conference fielded several veterans and sitting parliament members besides giving tickets to as many as 30 fresh faces hoping to turn the tide.
The party has given chance to 22 new comers in Kashmir Valley, one in Ladakh region and 13 in Jammu region.
The former chief minister seems to be on a safe wicket as he is contesting polls from Hazratbal which has never voted for any other party but National Conference.
Abdullah, who handed over the reins of the party to his son Omar in June 2002, went into political hibernation for couple of years -- a move that was seen as the first step towards his retirement from active politics.
However, Abdullah had to return to the state political scene as the old guard was not happy with some of the changes effected by Omar.
Abdullah is a natural crowd puller as he has proved time and again with his witty remarks and diatribes against his opponents. He is not even shy of criticising himself or his party leaders in public but this time he will need to do more than just play the maverick.
People's Democratic Party has emerged as a formidable regional opposition to National Conference over the past eight years as it was evident in the 2002 polls. The PDP bagged 16 seats -- mostly in south Kashmir -- which was once considered NC stronghold.
The emergence of other smaller parties like Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party (nationalist) in north Kashmir and People's Democratic Front (PDF) in central Kashmir is another threat to NC.
The party will have to focus on issues that have taken centrestage since the turn of the millennium in general and over the past six months in particular.
While resolution of Kashmir issue and unemployment top the agenda of the people, these issues are unlikely to be the deciding factors for those who come out to vote.
Instead, the fault lines have reached the micro level in every constituency with domicile, religion and ethnicity of the candidate likely to play an important role.
Anti-incumbency wave might have cost National Conference dearly in 2002, but performance of the previous MLAs during the past six years will be a key factor this time.
The party has also accommodated three rebels from Congress, PPD and Nationalist Congress Party as it felt they had better chances of winning than the parties candidates in the last elections.
National Conference will face stiff challenge from its own rebels who have joined the arch rivals PDP in the form of Mohammad Dilawar Mir and Moulvi Iftikhar Ansari.
Interestingly, the party has decided not to contest two seats in Leh district, fuelling speculation that National Conference might have entered into an understanding with the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF).
The party is yet to announce candidates for six seats including the prestigious Baramulla constituency represented in the previous assembly by Muzaffar Hussain Baig of PDP.
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