Farooq Abdullah Looks To Retain Srinagar

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah contested from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency against PDP’s Aga Syed Mohsin , Khalid Jahangir from the BJP and People’s Conference’s Irfan Ansari. 

Abdullah has lost only once in his four-decade-long career when he was defeated by PDP’s Tariq Hamid Karra in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Srinagar.

For the latest elections news  and more, follow HuffPost India on Twitter , Facebook , and subscribe to our newsletter .

Karra resigned from the party soon in 2016 and joined the Congress. Abdullah then won the seat in the 2017 by-election. Only 7 percent turnout was recorded at the time, and seven anti-election protesters were shot dead by police

Humayun Nazir, a political commentator from Srinagar, was quoted as saying by Firstpost , “The very nature of this contest makes one believe that Farooq has already booked another Parliamentary berth for himself.” 

The victory in Srinagar could set the tune for the state elections, according to Hindustan Times , which are due after the general election results.

Abdullah had made the special status of Jammu and Kashmir his central election issue. After the BJP manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls reiterated its commitment to scrap Article 370, which grants special status to the state, Abdullah told NDTV , “As far as we are concerned, it is vital to understand on what basis we have joined the union. We have not merged, we have acceded and accession was based on promises that the government of that time made. Article 370, Article 35A.”