National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, 86, looks poised to return to electoral politics at a time when son Omar has decided not to contest the Assembly polls until statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

“He (Omar) does not want to contest. He is saying he won’t contest unless statehood is restored. (But) I will contest. I am going to fight. I am not dead,” Farooq told reporters in Doda in his usual aggressive style.

The former chief minister would not reveal his likely choice of constituency. “Why should I tell you? Does a general reveal on which front he is fighting? I am the general (of the party),” Farooq said.

If Farooq contests the Assembly elections, he is virtually certain to be the chief ministerial face, as his remarks suggested.

Omar’s decision not to contest had led to murmurs within the party that an outsider might don that mantle. Farooq’s comments seemed to settle the issue.

Like Omar, fellow former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti too has vowed not to contest Assembly elections until statehood has been restored.

Farooq had opted out of the general election, paving the way for Aga Ruhullah Mehdi to contest from the Srinagar seat, the family’s so-called pocket borough.

The octogenarian had cited health reasons for not contesting. But his latest statement lends weight to the speculation that he had at the time merely acquiesced to Omar’s wish to have Mehdi, known for his pro-Article 370 stand, contest from Srinagar.

Omar had initially wanted to contest from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat himself but eventually chose a tougher battle in Baramulla against separatist turned pro-India politician Sajad Lone, who is believed to have the Centre’s full backing.

But the last-minute entry of jailed politician “Engineer” Rashid, known for his soft separatism, proved his undoing. According to the grapevine, the Centre had allowed Rashid to contest only after being convinced that he alone could defeat Omar.

Rashid, who has been in Tihar jail on terror funding charges since August 2019, rode a sympathy wave.

Farooq has a long history of making sacrifices for his son.

As part of a family understanding in 2002, he had left state politics in charge of his son but the party, Omar included, suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections that year.

Farooq shifted to national politics, first as a Rajya Sabha member and then, in 2009, as Lok Sabha member from Srinagar. He lost the seat in 2014 but again won in 2019.

At 86, he looks in good health although he had been ill a few years ago.

Farooq hoped the Assembly elections would be held soon. “I have heard and read that the dates will be announced by August 20,” he said.

True to his knack for stoking controversies, particularly ahead of elections, Farooq had kicked up a storm last week by suggesting that collusion between sections of the security forces and the militants had led to successful infiltration bids into Jammu.

Protesters from a Hindutva group on Tuesday burnt his effigy and chanted slogans against him in Jammu.

“We have so many soldiers on the border. No other country has such a deployment. How are they (militants) coming in? How are drugs (narcotics) coming in? There is collusion. They have colluded for our destruction,” Farooq had told a gathering in Kishtwar.

Farooq is on a tour of the Chenab Valley, which includes Doda and Kishtwar.