In Bandipora, candidates matter, not parties: Militant-turned-politician Usman Majid versus journalist-turned-politician Nizamuddin Bhat

Srinagar: While a mad race for tickets is underway in most of the constituencies in different political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, in northern Kashmir there is one particular segment where no political party exists after the recent resignations of two particular leaders.
In Bandipora, former MLC and MLA Nizamuddin Bhat has resigned from Sajad Gani Lone’s Peoples Conference (PC). Former MLA, Usman Majid, who also functioned as a Minister, has stepped out from Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party (AP).
Neither of the two political veterans has joined any party. Both are going to lock horns for another fight—this time as independent candidates. Majid has closed his options and his contest as an independent is certain. Bhat is also bracing up to contest as an independent candidate even as he claims that he still has ‘some communication’ with National Conference (NC).
Majid was a Pakistan-trained militant for a brief period in early 1990s. Later, he associated himself with the valley’s first counterterror militia—Kukka Parray-led IkhwanulMuslimoon. For his counterinsurgent profile, he survived a number of terror attacks including a major IED blast on his vehicle at Srinagar’s Tourist Reception Centre.
In 2002, when NC suffered a popularity deficit and PDP was a newborn with limited influence, Majid contested as an independent candidate in Bandipora as Parray’s Awami League (AL) was not a registered and recognised party. He secured 5,722 votes and defeated Habibullah Bhat of Congress with a margin of less than 300 votes. NC’s Javeed Hussain Shah, who had remained Majid’s associate in Ikhwan and AL, as also PDP’s Mohammad Abdullah Wani were also among the losers.
PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed formed a coalition government with Congress and an assortment of about a dozen independent and small party MLAs. Majid was one of them. He was inducted as Minister of State for Planning and Development.
NC became virtually defunct as its local leader Ghulam Rasool Mir Naz, who had won the elections of 1987 and 1996, was dropped in the ticket distribution. The resultant vacuum was filled up by Majid, who also enjoyed substantial support from the Army.
Soon after the Assembly elections, senior journalist Nizamuddin Bhat, who had unsuccessfully contested on PC’s ticket from Bandipora in 1983 and 1987, abandoned journalism and joined PDP. He was later elected as a Member of Legislative Council (MLC). In 2008, PDP fielded Bhat in Bandipora. This time he defeated Majid, NC’s Naz and 18 others.
In 2014, Majid contested as Congress candidate. He secured 25,084 votes and defeated PDP’s Bhat who polled 21,341 votes. NC’s Mohammad Abdullah Wani got a total of 6754 votes. Independent candidate advocate Nazir Ahmad Malik got 4220 votes.
Bhat lost the election but the PDP-BJP government inducted him as Vice Chairman of Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation. Later, he was appointed as VC of Muslim Wakf Board.
While Bhat and Majid joined PC and AP respectively after the popular government’s breakdown, all three of the traditional ruling parties—NC, PDP, Congress—virtually ceased to exist in Bandipora. BJP was and continues to be non-existent like in most of the segments in Kashmir. Ahead of the Assembly elections of 2024, both, Bhat and Majid quit their parties.
NC continues to be in crisis, even after a chunk of 18,000 of its voters was shifted from Sonawari to Bandipora in the delimitation exercise in 2022. NC’s Abdul Gani Bhat, who also happens to be the Chairman of District Development Council (DDC) Bandipora and is a resident of the party veteran Mohammad Akbar Lone’s Naidkhai village is not seen as a potential contender in the new constituency of Bandipora.
Former candidate Mohammad Abdullah Wani has already left NC. The only potential candidates for NC are advocate Malik and ex-MLA Naz’s daughter-in-law, Dr Bilqees, who is a retired Chief Medical Officer (CMO). By all indications, the real fight in Bandipora is once again between Majid and Bhat.
Interestingly, the independent winning candidate Engineer Rashid of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) polled a massive 42,000 votes in Bandipora segment in the recent Lok Sabha elections. But he was the beneficiary of a unique situation in which both Bhat’s and Majid’s supporters voted for Rashid. In the Assembly elections, Rashid’s AIP has no visibility in Bandipora.

Updated On 9/5/2024 3:26:06 AM