Farooq Abdullah to seek re-election from Srinagar

Union minister and National Conference (NC) patron Farooq Abdullah Thursday announced he would seek re-election to the Lok Sabha from Srinagar parliamentary constituency next year.

Addressing a party rally to observe the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah at his mausoleum in Hazratbal here, Farooq Abdullah said he would stand from the Srinagar constituency as the party candidate during the forthcoming general elections in 2014.

"Mehboob Beg would be the NC candidate from Anantnag while Sharif-ud-din Shariq would be the party candidate from Baramulla constituency," Farooq Abdullah said.

All the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla are represented by the NC.

While Farooq Abdullah represents Srinagar, Mehboob Beg is the sitting NC member from Anantnag and Sharif-ud-din Shariq represents Baramulla in the Lok Sabha.

Farooq Abdullah spoke of the sacrifices made by his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for the downtrodden people of Kashmir during the autocratic rule.

He also criticised Narendra Modi for what he called the unnecessary hype created by the BJP prime ministerial candidate over Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian union.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah, who also spoke on the occasion, challenged Modi to a debate on Article 370 and alleged that Modi was raking up the issue without any perspective of either the history of the state or the constitutional relevance of Article 370.

Omar also alleged during its rule, the rival Peoples Democratic Party had fortified security bunkers with concrete structures, replacing sandbags, while the NC has started removing these bunkers since it came to power in 2009.