Kashmir on Tuesday witnessed a couple of significant political somersaults.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah broke his vow not to contest elections until the restoration of statehood by deciding to join the poll fray from the Ganderbal Assembly constituency.

The separatist Jamaat-e-Islami said it would field three candidates to fight as Independents as the party has been banned and cannot contest elections.

Iltija Mufti, daughter of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, also joined the poll fray and filed her nomination from Bijbehara.

The National Conference (NC) on Tuesday announced its second list of candidates for the upcoming polls, which included vice-president Omar and veterans Ali Mohammad Sagar and Abdul Raheem Rather.

The NC and the Congress had on Monday reached a seat-sharing agreement, which gave the former 51 seats and the latter 32. Two seats were left for the allies while there was a “friendly contest” on the remaining five seats.

Srinagar MP and NC spokesperson Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi had on Sunday said they were asking Omar to reconsider his decision and contest in the absence of statehood.

“Your stand is right but it is our compulsion, not yours, that this state should tomorrow be in the hands of one who will safeguard our dignity, fight tomorrow against these powers (BJP),” Mehdi told a crowd in Ganderbal.

Omar’s candidature marks another U-turn by him and his party. The NC and other local parties had shunned elections in anticipation and in the run-up to the scrapping of special status on August 5, 2019.

The parties had softened their stand in 2020 when they decided to contest the District Development Council elections as part of the multi-party Gupkar Alliance, which was fighting for the restoration of Article 370.

However, they continued their opposition to other polls as long as Article 370 was
not restored.

Omar faced massive opposition when he said in July 2020 that he was ready for an electoral comeback and set the restoration of statehood as the only condition.

Such was the outcry that Mehdi had announced his resignation from the party, saying it was unthinkable to contest until Article 370 was restored. He returned to the party fold later.

Rival PDP had said Omar was playing to the tunes of Delhi.

“GOIs (Government of India’s) tactic of dangling statehood post scrapping of Article 370 is akin to amputating a person’s feet & offering him shoes. BJP due to electoral compulsions in Jammu has to grant statehood so they’re not doing people of J&K any favours,” a tweet from Mehbooba’s X handle stated.

Omar had then just been released from jail while Mehbooba was still incarcerated. Her daughter Iltija used to handle her mother’s social media accounts.