India
Politics in the land of poets: All eyes on Dooru as Delhi watches closely | India News – Times of India
ANANTNAG: Often celebrated as the “Land of Poets”, the sky Bye seems thick with echoes of classical Persian and Kashmiri verse. Among the poets and storytellers, Saadat Hasan Manto had roots in this beautiful town, hugged by the towering Pir Panjal range in the Anantnag district of southern Kashmir.
Dooru is currently attracting attention not for its rich literary history but for its politics, as J&K prepares for its first state assembly elections in a decade. One of the ten candidates contesting the Dooru constituency is the secretary general of AICC Ghulam Ahmad Mirthe nominee of the National conference (NC)-Congress alliance.
Mir, a two-time legislator, faces competition from PDP’s Mohammad Ashraf Malik and independents backed by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami and Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad FestivalThe entry of former separatists as independents could shake things up for Mir, who is also a former president and Congress minister of J&K.
The significance of the battle for Dooru can be gauged from the fact that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party’s election campaign in J&K with a rally here, while party president Mallikarjun Kharge announced five guarantees for the Union Territory if the alliance is elected.
Mir has focused his campaign on local issues, saying, “We had approved a ropeway project, but the PDP-BJP government shifted it to Pahalgam.”
NC and Congress have historically had the upper hand in the constituency, winning six out of the seven elections since 1977. Mir won in 2002 and 2008, while the seat went to the PDP in 2014 when Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, brother of party founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, defeated Mir.
In the 2023 delimitation process, Dooru saw an additional 40,000 voters added, bringing the total to 116,749. This expanded electorate could play a crucial role in determining the outcome.
In this summer’s Lok Sabha elections, NC’s Mian Altaf secured victory in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, which includes the Dooru Assembly segment. Altaf defeated PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, winning nearly 30,000 votes, compared to Mufti’s 9,802 votes from Dooru.
Political analysts are optimistic and say that the NC-Congress alliance stands a good chance in the absence of prominent rivals. However, it remains to be seen whether the vote base will shift from NC to Mir.
The constituency will vote in the first phase on September 18. What happens in Dooru does not stay in Dooru, but is felt in faraway Delhi.
Dooru is currently attracting attention not for its rich literary history but for its politics, as J&K prepares for its first state assembly elections in a decade. One of the ten candidates contesting the Dooru constituency is the secretary general of AICC Ghulam Ahmad Mirthe nominee of the National conference (NC)-Congress alliance.
Mir, a two-time legislator, faces competition from PDP’s Mohammad Ashraf Malik and independents backed by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami and Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad FestivalThe entry of former separatists as independents could shake things up for Mir, who is also a former president and Congress minister of J&K.
The significance of the battle for Dooru can be gauged from the fact that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party’s election campaign in J&K with a rally here, while party president Mallikarjun Kharge announced five guarantees for the Union Territory if the alliance is elected.
Mir has focused his campaign on local issues, saying, “We had approved a ropeway project, but the PDP-BJP government shifted it to Pahalgam.”
NC and Congress have historically had the upper hand in the constituency, winning six out of the seven elections since 1977. Mir won in 2002 and 2008, while the seat went to the PDP in 2014 when Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, brother of party founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, defeated Mir.
In the 2023 delimitation process, Dooru saw an additional 40,000 voters added, bringing the total to 116,749. This expanded electorate could play a crucial role in determining the outcome.
In this summer’s Lok Sabha elections, NC’s Mian Altaf secured victory in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, which includes the Dooru Assembly segment. Altaf defeated PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, winning nearly 30,000 votes, compared to Mufti’s 9,802 votes from Dooru.
Political analysts are optimistic and say that the NC-Congress alliance stands a good chance in the absence of prominent rivals. However, it remains to be seen whether the vote base will shift from NC to Mir.
The constituency will vote in the first phase on September 18. What happens in Dooru does not stay in Dooru, but is felt in faraway Delhi.
