Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: Three out of four former state CMs opt out of race for coveted position

Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Ghulam Nabi Azad decide not to contest Assembly polls, leaving only Omar Abdullah, the son of Farooq Abdullah and the former chief minister from the NC, as the sole contender among the former CMs list.

Srinagar: Three among four former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir have opted out of the upcoming assembly polls and the race for the coveted position.

Farooq Abdullah of National Conference (NC), Mehbooba Mufti of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Ghulam Nabi Azad of Democratic Progressive Azad Alliance (DPAP) have all remained chief ministers of the erstwhile state at one or the other time from early 1980s to 2018.

However, all the three senior politicians from J&K have decided not to contest this time, marking a surprising shift in the political landscape of the Union Territory.

This leaves Omar Abdullah, the son of Farooq Abdullah and the former chief minister from the NC, as the sole contender among the former CMs list.

The decision of Farooq Abdullah, the patriarch of the Abdullah political dynasty, to step aside, signals the end of an era in J&K politics. His decision is likely driven by a combination of age, health issues, the desire to make way for younger leadership and the complexities of the current political environment too.

Farooq remained CM of J&K for three terms - 8 September 1982 – 2 July 1984, 7 November 1986 – 18 January 1990 and 9 October 1996 to 18 October 2002.

Since the abrogation of Article 370, Mehbooba has been saying she won’t contest the Assembly polls since the position of chief minister in the now Union Territory (UT) would essentially be a powerless one.

She said that even if she is elected as the CM, she will not be able to fulfill her party's agenda in the UT. Mehbooba was the last CM of erstwhile state from April 4, 2016, to June 19, 2018.

Azad, the former Congress leader who recently formed the DPAP in 2022, has also opted out, perhaps acknowledging the uphill task of establishing a new political force. Azad served as CM of J&K from 2 November 2005 to 11 July 2008

Omar’s decision to contest comes as a surprise to many. Like Mehbooba, he had previously declared that he would not participate in elections under the current UT status. However, in a recent turn of events, Omar, who was the CM of J&K from 5 January 2009 to 8 January 2015, reversed his stance, deciding to enter the fray.

His entry into the electoral arena, despite his earlier reservations, is likely to galvanise the NC support base and position him as the primary face of the anti-BJP alliance, which aims to reclaim the political narrative in J&K.