Bandipora set to witness neck-to-neck fight between old rivals

Bandipora, Sep 28: The Bandipora constituency in north Kashmir is likely to witness a neck-to-neck fight between old rivals, the two-time MLA Usman Majid and former MLA Nizamuddin Bhat on October 1.

Majid became an MLA in 2002 securing 5722 votes when he was associated with Jammu and Kashmir Awami League, breaking the National Conference's winning streak in the constituency since 1977.

Before he came to power, the seat was twice won by Mir Ghulam Rasool Naaz from NC.

In 2008, however, Nizamuddin Bhat then associated with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gave a blow to Majid, who was fighting as an independent, making inroads for the PDP in the district and clinching the seat with 13,051 votes, defeating his arch-rival Majid by 820 votes.

Majid made a strong comeback in 2014 when the PDP dominated Kashmir's political arena, coming to power on a Congress ticket.

He secured 25,084 votes defeating Bhat by a margin of 3743 votes.

His win revived the party's past association with the constituency when M A Khan of Congress was the MLA in 1972.

Majid and Bhat according to political observers no doubt are seen as the main political rivals who dominate the political landscape of the Bandipora constituency, however, the defection and association from and with parties has somewhat plagued the people's perceptions, more so after the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019.

Majid who is again fighting as an independent candidate parted ways with Congress in 2020 and joined Apni Party as its vice president.

He left the Apni Party in early August saying that the "new direction" was necessary to achieve his "prime objective" of "serving people of Bandipora more effectively and that the decision was made after due consultation with supporters and local cadre.

Bhat resigned as Wakf Board Chairman in 2018, a month after the Governor's rule was imposed when the BJP pulled support from the PDP-led government.

He left away from PDP to join Sajad Lone's Peoples Conference calling it a "homecoming" in 2021. Soon after the recent parliamentary polls, Bhat left the party saying he could not "tolerate the humiliation."

Bhat said he was "insulted" by Sajad Lone as he was not consulted by him for his candidature for the parliamentary elections despite being the board chairman.

Bhat had been in talks with Congress up until the day before the last day to file nomination papers and was successful in securing the mandate of the alliance.

Before that, he released a manifesto and personal statement making his stance clear on Articles 370 and Article 35-A saying that political parties were wedded to “individual agendas” with “some of us desiring to crave for much-needed unity on larger issues" adding parliamentary polls were fought on "personal agendas".

However, Bhat feels the last flip to plunge into the Congress-NC alliance will secure him enough votes to win the election, more so as a large chunk of the NC voter base now comes from Sumbal areas of Naidkhai and Shangund, following delimitation.

In a casual conversation, Bhat indicated this was among the "main reasons" for him to secure the mandate.

His "friendship" with NC's Akbar Lone, whose son Hilal Akbar, is in the fray from Sumbal constituency, is also mobilising support in Bhat’s favour from Naidkhai as it is Lone's home town.

Yet, Majid's "energy and influence" to engage with people of all ages is seen as a significant factor in wooing voters.

Majid claims he has pulled Bandipora "out of misery" while suggesting more needs to be done on the development front, slamming other party leaders for having no standing in the Kashmir issue.

Yet, delimitation can prove pivotal as 24,000 voters, including areas of Usman's bastion will vote for the Sumbal constituency.

Bandipora is getting a chunk of almost 16,000 voters from Sumbal who traditionally vote in high numbers.

However, his associates believe it won't be a significant factor, suggesting in previous elections Majid got 7500 votes and Bhat clocked around 3200 from these areas.

They say besides vote share in Naidkhai, Bandipora areas will cover it in Majid's favour which Bhat's supporters disagree with.

Will new faces turn the tide?

Even after this, other candidates of the total 19 candidates too pose a significant challenge and might 'alter' the outcome by splitting a modest voter base.

This includes former NC MLA, Naz's daughter-in-law, Dr Bilquees, who has rebelled against the party fighting as an independent candidate, and creating fissures for the Congress-NC alliance.

Bilquees says Bhat has “stung the party cadre like a scorpion” claiming it will prove detrimental, while Bhat's closest associates say she should “worry about her security deposit”.

Journalist-turned-politician Syed Tajamul Islam, who is fighting on the PDP ticket hopes the party would be able to retain its workers.

Jamaat-backed Muhammad Hafiz Sikander Malik, and former district president, who wears a GPS anklet tracker is also predicted to woo a chunk of voters in his favour as his campaign has lately begun to attract small crowds from certain pockets.

In his rallies, besides talking about development and women empowerment, he says voting is a form of "testimony" while also emphasising the importance of Kashmir's "peace and safety" and pardon for youth languishing in jails. He is also backing on the "silent voters".

Moreover, it remains to be seen if Engineer Rashid's long associate Prince Parvez, who is running a relatively "low key" campaign for AIP as an independent can woo a significant number of voters.

With his mother's demise on Wednesday, it's unlikely he will ramp up his campaigning, however, observers say Rashid's campaign may help him get his chunk.

Other faces include Ismail Ashna, who is fighting as an independent candidate after Congress didn't consider his mandate, and BJP's Naseer Ahmad Lone.

Other faces include Apni Party's Shafat Qazmi, grandson of Sufi saint Syed Ghulam Rasool Shah, popularly known as Nanga Baji, and DDC member Mustafa Khan from Samajwadi Party, who has support from some tribal pockets.

Besides these, People Conference candidate Mudasir Ahmad Bhat is likely also to get votes from his native Aloosa Tehsil.

Bandipora constituency has a total of 1,16,326 voters including 59,483 males, 56,841 females and 2 transgender electors.

The election commission has set up 144 polling stations at 120 locations.