"Good portion of votes will go to the National Conference candidates," says Omar Abdullah

Pulwama, Sep 16: Ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said that he is hoping that a good portion of the votes will go to the National Conference candidates and expressed confidence that they will register victory.

"We are hoping that when the voting takes place the day after tomorrow, a good portion of the votes will go to the National Conference candidates, and they will be successful here," said Omar Abdullah.

Speaking about Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, he stated, "His strings are connected somewhere else. He gets the signal from somewhere else. They dance on that signal. It is obvious that they have been fielded to target the National Conference. There is no problem, we can face it."

Last week, a special NIA court in Delhi granted bail to Rashid, an accused in the terror funding case, and allowed him to campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

In 2005, Rashid was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants.

In August 2019, Rashid was again arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). While incarcerated, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to be held on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting will take place on October 8.

These are the first assembly polls to be held in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. There are a total number of 90 Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, out of which 7 seats are reserved for SCs and 9 seats are reserved for STs.

According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible electors.

In the previous Assembly elections, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12.