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Basharat Peer in Budgam
The National Conference president, Omar Abdullah, appealed to a 3,000-plus crowd in Budgam on Saturday to give his party 'another chance'.
Lacing his speech with heavy doses of broken Kashmiri, Abdullah struck the right cord among the people by promising them 'better employment' if voted to power again.
Abdullah was campaigning for the controversial NC candidate from Budgam, Agha Roohullah, who is allegedly just 20 years of age instead of 26 years as submitted in his nomination papers.
"Vote for Roohullah and you will get Omar Abdullah free," a visibly confident NC president told the cheering crowd. Budgam goes to voting on September 24, the second phase of the assembly election.
The controversy about Roohullah's age has hogged the headlines of the local press. "The Election Commission has accepted his candidature. It is the Election Commission of India, not the Election Commission of the National Conference," Omar said in defence of Roohullah.
Taking a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi's poorly attended rally in Budgam recently, Abdullah said, "Sonia Gandhi can be the prime minister of India some day. If I knew, she would be insulted like that by such a small crowd, I would have sent some thousand NC workers to her rally."
Roohullah comes from a family of powerful of the Shia spiritual leaders. His father, a well-known Shia cleric and National Conference leader, was killed by militants in 1998.
But the 'Aghas' -- as the Shia spiritual leaders are known -- hold sway among the 17,000-strong Shia vote bank in Budgam.
"If Agha sahib says vote for the BJP, we will do that. Now Roohullah sahib is contesting for the NC, so we will vote for the NC," said Shanaaz Hussain, a Budgam resident.
But there is also a keen political tussle within the Agha family
Relative Agha Mehdi, fighting as an independent, is opposing Roohullah.
Budgam is considered a traditional NC bastion, where the party has lost only one election in 1967.
With the majority of Shias backing the NC nominee, Roohullah, his chances can be marred if the Sunni vote bank consolidates behind his opponent, the People's Democratic Party candidate, Kamal Khan.
"We are not going to vote for NC. They want to cash on Shia votes and get a Shia candidate, when Sunni votes are higher in number," said Mohammed Shafi, a clerk with the state government.
But there are pockets near Budgam town, where Roohullah's father had influence even amongst the Sunnis.
But some five kilometres from Budgam, in Soibugh village with around 6,000 voters, the feeling is completely anti-National Conference.
Better known as the Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin's ancestral home, the residents did not even let Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq address a meeting a few days back. The buntings all over Soibugh and adjacent villages are of the PDP.
"We are not actually interested in voting. But we have to vote against NC. We do not even have drinking water here. It is a completely neglected place, so we would vote against the ruling party," said Shabir Ahmad, a Soibugh resident.
If Soibugh and other Sunni villages ride the anti-incumbency wave, it might be a tough fight for the young NC nominee Roohullah.
And to ensure that the voters do not make a mistake with the newly introduced Electronic Voting Machines, Omar Abdullah even went to the extent of explaining their usage to the gathering at Budgam.
"Press the first button with the plough [NC symbol] on it. It is the only button that connects to Srinagar. Of the other buttons, some connect to New Delhi and some to Islamabad," he quipped.
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