Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Ghulam Ahmad Mir and National Conference (NC) leader Hasnain Masoodi were among the candidates who filed their nominations on Wednesday for the volatile Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in south Kashmir.
Ms. Mufti, referring to BJP president Amit Shah’s remarks on abrogating Article 370, said his 2020 deadline “will also be the deadline for J&K’s merger with the Union of India.” She took on the BJP on the issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
As Congress’s Mr. Mir filed his nomination, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, campaigning in the Valley, blamed the BJP for pushing regional parties in J&K to a point where they were demanding their own Prime Minister.
On a day when NC candidate Hasnain Masoodi filed his nomination, party president Farooq Abdullah said at an election rally that J&K’s people were the rightful owners of their land. “As long as the plough symbol flutters full staff in our State, no one would dare to fiddle with the integrity and identity of Kashmir.”
Choudhary Zaffar Khatana of the Peoples Conference also filed his nomination for the seat.