Srinagar: Jammu Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) Monday announced that its president Sajad Lone will contest the upcoming parliamentary elections from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.
Imran Ansari, who is the senior general secretary of the party, said that he held extensive discussions with party workers over the past two weeks on fielding of the candidate for Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.
"The leadership and the rank and file of the party has overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of our party president Sajad Gani Lone. It is with great pleasure I formally announce that Sajad Lone has acceded to the demand of the party. He will be the candidate of the party from Baramulla Parliamentary seat," Ansari said.
He said the party believed that the fiercest speeches on the floor of the parliament, advocating the just cause of the people will finally be delivered by Sajad Lone after a painful wait of seven decades. "The people of J&K will finally get the chance to roar in the parliament" Ansari.
Sajad Lone was a former separatist leader who joined mainstream in 2009 and contested parliament elections. He was defeated by National Conference's Sharifudin Shariq. In 2019, Sajad Lone's party candidate Raja Ajaz Ali was defeated by Akbar Lone of National Conference.
Lone won the 2014 assembly elections from Handwara and become a cabinet minister with social welfare and animal husbandry portfolio with the recommendation of BJP leadership in New Delhi. Before assembly elections he had met prime minister Narendra Modi and called him "my elder brother."
In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Lone is hopeful of winning the Baramulla-Kupwara seat against NC which is yet to announce its candidates for the elections. Baramulla Parliamentary seat comprises three districts--Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora-- and has 18 assembly segments. In 2022 controversial delimitation, Berwah assembly segment was also included in this Lok Sabha seat.
Ansari said that the party will not contest on the two seats in Jammu region and "will not be instrumental in wasting or diverting a single vote through vote division." PC has no presence in Jammu region. Ansari also hinted that they will not contest on the other two seats- Anantnag-Rajouri and Srinagar.
"We will take a call about other seats (of Kashmir) based on our limited resources and also how best to defeat the common enemy of the people of J and K. Apart from Baramulla, we will fight only where we believe we can win on our own and either seek support or give support respectively to any party best suited to defeat the biggest enemy of the people of J and K," Ansari said, adding that the party's position about other two seats in the Kashmir region will become clear in the coming weeks.
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