PDP chief is pitted in party stronghold against NC candidate, who is banking on Gujjar-Bakarwal votes. Apni Party has fielded Zaffar Manhas, a Pahari supported by BJP.
In first Lok Sabha election after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Srinagar constituency recorded 36% voter turnout Monday. In 2019, the figure was 14.43%.
Srinagar goes to polls on 13 May, for the first time since Article 370 was scrapped in 2019. Poll contest is expected to be a triangular fight with PDP, NC & Apni Party in fray
Apni Party claims it will have at least six DDC chairpersons, setting it up as a formidable political contender to the Gupkar Alliance which won the most seats.
In an interview to ThePrint, Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari says J&K parties knew about Article 370 decision beforehand. He says Gupkar Declaration is local parties' means to grab power.
BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav comes at a time 6 regional parties issued a joint statement on restoring Article 370, and the BJP has seen a spate of resignations in the region.
Anantnag MP Justice Masoodi said ceremony was ‘insignificant’, while his Baramulla counterpart Akbar Lone said NC didn’t accept decisions of 5 August 2019.
The recent resignations of its seniormost judges are among the most pointed institutional protests Pakistan has witnessed since the lawyers’ movement of the late 2000s.
Without a Congress revival, there can be no challenge to the BJP pan-nationally. Modi’s party is growing, and almost entirely at the cost of the Congress.
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