Farooq Abdullah Files Nomination for Srinagar ByPoll

SRINAGAR: The candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference-Congress coalition today filed their nomination for Srinagar Lok Sabha parliamentary seat which will go to polls on April 9.

Joined by dozens of his and Congress workers, Dr Farooq Abdullah, National Conference president and former union minister, filed his nomination at the office of Deputy Commissioner Srinagar. Congress and NC are fighting the election jointly.

Dr Abdullah, who was accompanied by NC Working President Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir and Congress leader and former PDP leader Tariq Hameed Karra, is the NC-Congress candidate.

Interestingly, Karra, who resigned from the Srinagar seat after parting ways from the Peoples Democratic Party laat year, will be campaigning for Dr Abdullah. Karra defeated Dr Abdullah from this seat in 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad Khan, a former Congress leader who lost to Omar Abdullah by a narrow margin of less than thousand votes in 2014 assembly election, also filed his nomination from Srinagar seat on Peoples Democratic Party ticket. He was accompanied by senior PDP leaders Muzaffar Hussain Beig and Imran Ansari.

The elections will be held amid simmering tensions in the Valley with the political parties finding it difficult to reach out to the people and campaign for their candidates as the Hurriyat has appealed for complete boycott of the election.

Yesterday, three workers of the Peoples Democratic Party suffered injuries as protesters targeted Dak Bungalow in Anantnag where the ruling party had organised a meeting to discuss the strategy for the election.

Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in the tense south Kashmir will go to polls on April 12 with the J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's cinematographer brother, Tasaduq Mufti, pitted against J&K Congress chief GA Mir, the candidate of National Conference-Congress coalition.