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| In sync with Kashmir, Sajjad to contest LS polls |
| Aasha Khosa / New Delhi Apr 12, 2009, 00:18 IST |
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The Kashmiri separatist movement today received a rude shock with Sajjad Lone, 42-year-old moderate leader, announcing his plans to contest the Lok Sabha election from Baramulla in north Kashmir.
Analysts feel that Sajjad’s move could, in due course of time, trigger desertions in the separatists’ camp, where many leaders have realised the futility of their course. This was after Jammu and Kashmir recorded a spectacular 62 per cent voter turnout in the last Assembly elections, despite the boycott call given by the separatists.
Sajjad is the son of Abdul Ghani Lone, a senior Hurriyat Conference leader who was assassinated by pro-Pakistani militants in 2001, soon after he had spoken against Pakistan for sending foreign mercenaries’ into Kashmir to unleash violence.
Speaking to the media in Srinagar, Sajjad said his decision was in response to the sentiments of people, who had ignored the boycott call for Assembly elections and turned up in hordes to cast their vote. “Nobody listens to us, so, I have decided to raise Kashmir issues in Parliament, said Sajjad.
Sajjad Lone’s announcement evoked positive reactions among national political parties in Delhi, with both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hailing it as an “acknowledgment of the peoples verdict for democracy.”
Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson, BJP, said Sajjad’s entering the election was a positive development. Jayanthi Natrajan of the Congress party said, “it was in tune with the Congress party’s stand that a broad-based and participatory process was the right way to seek redressal of peoples grievances.’’
Though Lone would be contesting as a People’s Conference candidate, party founded by his father, analysts feel that he does not stand a chance unless other political parties extend support to him as a goodwill gesture.
The Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which announced its candidate from Baramulla, is unlikely to oblige Lone, as it is more inclined towards the hard-liner factions of the separatists.
Mehbooba Mufti has told Business Standard that “unless Hurriyat Conference fields its candidate, my party would not support anyone in the election.’’
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