The announcement regarding the candidacy of People's Conference Chairman Sajad Lone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in North Kashmir's Baramulla parliamentary constituency was officially disclosed by the party's Senior General Secretary, Imran Reza Ansari, during a press briefing held on Monday. Ansari further conveyed that deliberations concerning the selection of candidates for the remaining two seats within the Kashmir valley are underway and assured that a decision would be reached shortly. Additionally, he emphasized the party's stance of refraining from contesting any seats within the Jammu region of the Union Territory.
Sajad Gani Lone's foray into mainstream politics dates back to 2009 when he contested the Lok Sabha polls from the Baramulla seat. Despite facing an electoral setback at that time, he persevered in his political endeavors and eventually tasted success in the 2014 Assembly polls, emerging victorious from the Handwara constituency. Notably, Sajad Lone played a pivotal role in the PDP-BJP coalition government of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, holding a ministerial portfolio within the cabinet.
In a recent communication shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), the party's secretary general, Imran Ansari, outlined the extensive consultations conducted with party leaders and grassroots representatives to strategize for the forthcoming Parliamentary elections. He highlighted the overwhelming support garnered by Sajad Gani Lone's candidature for the Baramulla seat among both the leadership and the rank and file of the party.
Furthermore, Ansari underscored the pragmatic approach adopted by the party in determining its electoral strategy, emphasizing the prudent allocation of resources and the paramount objective of defeating the common adversary faced by the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He articulated the party's intention to contest in select constituencies where victory is deemed achievable independently, while expressing readiness to either extend or receive support from allied parties aligned with the shared goal of countering the overarching challenges confronting the region.
Amidst ongoing negotiations within the INDIA bloc regarding seat-sharing arrangements with Congress, National Conference, and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Sajad Lone's candidacy for the Baramulla seat assumes significance. The recent withdrawal of the PDP from the INDIA bloc, coupled with Congress' proposal to allocate three out of the six seats in the Union Territory to the National Conference, has sparked deliberations regarding the future composition of the coalition. Discussions with key stakeholders, including party vice-president Omar Abdullah, are currently underway to finalize the seat-sharing agreement, which could potentially sideline Mehbooba Mufti's PDP within the coalition framework.
