Veteran journalist joins electoral fray in Srinagar

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday announced the candidature of veteran Kashmiri journalist Zafar Meraj for the state assembly polls.

Meraj, editor of local English daily 'Kashmir Monitor', has been fielded for the Habba Kadal seat in Srinagar city.

Meraj belongs to a well known business family of Guru Bazar area of old city Srinagar in the same constituency.

He is the nephew of late Shameem Ahmad Shameem, a firebrand orator, journalist and former parliamentarian.

Meraj survived an assassination attempt in late 1990s by a group of counter insurgents who shot him on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and gave him up for dead.

Critically wounded, Meraj had stopped a truck on the highway that took him to the hospital in Srinagar even as he bled with multiple bullet injuries.

Shameema Firdous of regional National Conference (NC) represents Habba Kadal constituency in 87-member state assembly presently.

BJP has fielded migrant Kashmiri Pandit Moti Kaul from here, depending largely on support from over 16,000 migrant voters registered in this constituency.

With Meraj throwing his hat into the electoral ring, the contest is going to be triangular between NC, BJP, and the PDP in Habba Kadal.

The constituency goes to polls Dec 14 in the fourth phase of the five-phased Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.