The Assembly election for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is underway. The participation of political parties and the voters is highly appreciable. Besides political parties, many Independent candidates are also in fray. This shows the vibrant democracy of India. Jammu & Kashmir is one of the few States whose political veterans frequently contested from outside the State.
Barring Abdullah family, eminent politicians from Jammu & Kashmir had contested from outside the State of Jammu and Kashmir and made their political career brighter.
Mufti Md Sayeed joined the Janta Dal, and instead of contesting from his home State, he chose to contest from Uttar Pradesh. In 1989, Mufti Md Sayeed contested from Muzaffarnagar, and after winning, he became Home Minister in V P Singh Cabinet. Again in 1991 Lok Sabha election he contested from the seat and lost. In the 1996 Lok Sabha election, Sayeed contested from Katihar in the Seemanchal region of Bihar. Late Sayeed came to third place in vote share from Katihar Lok Sabha’s seat behind Congress party’s Tariq Anwar and BJP’s Nikhil Choudhary. After forming his political outfit, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Mufti family did not contest outside the State.
Senior Congress party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad contested from Washim Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra in 1980 and 1984 and won on both occasions. Karan Singh contested against incumbent Prime Minister late Atal Bihar Vajpayee from Lucknow in 1999. In 2004, Karan Singh became a Rajya Sabha member of the NCT of Delhi and a Congress party candidate.
Abdullah family did not contest outside the State as they belong to a regional party, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. The JKNC has no presence outside the State and did not venture to contest.
