Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti to not contest elections until Centre restores statehood in J&K

Srinagar: Two former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir have decided to not contest the assembly elections. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have said they will not contest the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir to be held next year until the central government restores the statehood in J&K. Jammu and Kashmir was converted into a Union Territory on August 4, 2019. Since then, the regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been pushing for the restoration of statehood. ''Omar has said from the beginning that If the statehood is not restored, He won't fight the elections, ' said Farooq Abdullah, Patron of National Conference.

The PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had also said that she will not contest the assembly elections. Mufti had said that the next assembly elections are not her priority nor her attaining power.

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''Election is not my priority personally, Elections will happen, and my party will participate but my priority is to fight the prevailing situation in the valley. People are suffocated, there is monitoring everywhere, they have caged our thoughts as well. There is so much suppression and so many arrests of youth, poor boys are being taken to jails outside the JK, and unemployment issues. And our existence is under threat. The BJP is trying to finish our existence,”said Mehbooba Mufti, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. 

While both the former Chief Ministers have decided to not contest the upcoming assembly elections, their party's National Conference and PDP will be contesting the assembly polls. PDP has been pushing for a coalition between all People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) parties. With an agenda to keep BJP away from power.