As NC issues poll notification, Farooq Abdullah will not seek re-election as president

As Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Friday issued a notification for holding elections for the post of president, the incumbent Farooq Abdullah will not seek re-election.

After serving as its president since August 1981 barring one term (2002 to 2009), the octogenarian leader has decided to pass on the baton to his son Omar Abdullah.

Despite senior Abdullah's word earlier in the day saying that he was not going to step down as president of the NC and will continue to hold the office till “someone else is ready to take the responsibilities,” the party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar issued the election notification.

The election will be held on December 5, which is also the birth anniversary of party founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. According to the notification, the last date for filing of nominations for the post is December 1.

Speculations are rife in Srinagar that the flamboyant senior Abdullah will assume the role of party patron and his son Omar, currently the NC’s vice-president, will likely succeed him as the new chief.

A senior NC leader said Farooq Abdullah will continue to lead the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was formed after the nullification of the special status of J&K after August 5, 2019. It was constituted to fight for the restoration of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution as it existed on August 4, 2019.