Omar Abdullah named JKNC candidate for North Kashmir

• Omar Abdullah, JKNC vice president and former chief minister, to contest from North Kashmir
• He will fight from Baramulla parliamentary constituency
• This marks a significant return to the electoral arena for Omar Abdullah

Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah declared on Friday that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the party's contender from North Kashmir in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party's vice president and former chief minister will fight from Baramulla parliamentary constituency and senior leader Ruhullah Mehdi will be the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Srinagar Parliamentary constituency.

This marks a significant return to the electoral arena for Omar Abdullah, the vice president of the NC and a former chief minister. He last contested Lok Sabha polls in 2009. Omar Abdullah's decision to contest is a shift from his earlier stance following the abrogation of Article 370, where he had vowed not to participate in elections until Jammu and Kashmir regained its statehood.

“It has been decided that I will be contesting from North Kashmir because BJP is focusing a lot on North Kashmir. I want these powers to be defeated in North Kashmir,” Omar Abdullah stated after the announcement.

Speaking on his candidacy, Omar Abdullah futher added, "my fight is not against an individual, it is against the skullduggery, treachery, and the political machinations of the BJP."