J&K assembly elections: 86-year-old Farooq Abdullah in political spotlight, son Omar Abdullah denies. 5 points | Mint

National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah on August 16 said he will lead the party in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, to be held in three phases from September 18.

This announcement by 86-year-old Farooq comes after his son Omar Abdullah decided not to participate in the elections until the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir is restored.

“I will contest the elections. Omar Abdullah will not. When statehood is granted, I will step down and Omar Abdullah will contest from that seat,” Farooq Abdullah told reporters in Jammu soon after the Election Commission announced dates for the assembly polls on Friday.

Restoring statehood

Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised as a Union Territory after the repeal of Article 370 in 2019. The central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to return statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

“I have made this very clear. I have been the chief minister of a state. I cannot see myself in a situation where I have to ask the LG to appoint my peon. It is as simple as this… I am not going to sit outside the LG’s waiting room and tell him ‘Sir, please sign the file’,” Omar told The Indian Express in an interview earlier this month, explaining why he was opting out of the polls this time.

Omar lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Baramulla seat to Engineer Rashid, who is in jail under the UAPA.

Jammu and Kashmir is going to have assembly elections after a gap of ten years as the last assembly elections were held in 2014. The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 after the saffron party withdrew support to then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Since then, the erstwhile state has been under the rule of the Centre.

All eyes on 86-year-old Farooq Abdullah

In Omar’s absence, the focus has shifted to his father and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

A three-time chief minister of the erstwhile state, former Member of Parliament (MP) and former Union minister, Farooq is arguably the most popular political figure in the Kashmir Valley. Just ahead of the 2024 general elections, Farooq distanced himself from contesting the polls, citing health reasons. But his son Omar had then said that not contesting the Lok Sabha polls did not mean the end of his father’s political career.

Born in Srinagar in 1937, Farooq studied in a missionary school. He earned an MBBS degree from SMS Medical College, Jaipur and then practised medicine in the United Kingdom before returning home.

Chief Minister at the age of 45

Farooq held his first public office in 1980 when he was elected MP from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, which he represented several times in the coming years. A year later, he became president of the National Conference, a position held by his father and party founder Sheikh Abdullah before him.

Farooq first took over as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir at the age of 45 after the death of his father in 1982. He became chief minister again in November 1986 and 1996 – serving a full six-year term until 2002.

His son Omar Abdullah took over the party in 2002. Since then, Farooq has been mainly focusing on his role in New Delhi. He won the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar seat in 2009, 2017 and 2019. He has been the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy between 2009 and 2014.

A few days before the announcement of the election date, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate against Farooq.

active in political circles

Farooq may not have contested the Lok Sabha elections, but he has been actively involved in political affairs. The former Union minister has been attending party meetings and making his public appearances. He was one of the first leaders from Jammu and Kashmir to be detained before the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Farooq was the chairman of the now-defunct PAGD (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration), an alliance formed between several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir that campaigned for restoration of the special status of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state under Article 370.

In December 2020, the PAGD won the District Development Council (DDC) elections, the first elections held in the erstwhile state after the abrogation of Article 370.

According to the latest biography of Farooq Abdullah, ‘Farooq of Kashmir’ written by Ashwani Bhatnagar and R.C. Ganjoo, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was keen to invest in Farooq Abdullah. The book states that Farooq appeared to her as a happy-go-lucky person who was neither ambitious nor deeply rooted in the politics and ethos of Kashmir.

‘A novice who can be moulded’

The book says Farooq grew up under the comfortable protection of his father – there was never an occasion when he had to fight political battles on the streets or keep his composure during tense closed-door negotiations.

“He was a novice who could be groomed and moulded. He was a perfect representative,” reads an excerpt from the book published in Scroll.in.

Despite over four decades of experience, no one understands the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Farooq, at least within the National Conference, say his supporters. “If he is put to the test, he may even surpass his son in terms of popularity,” said a political analyst who did not wish to be named.

With one month left for the first phase of polling, Farooq’s role will be keenly watched in political circles of Jammu and Kashmir.