Lok Sabha elections : Can Farooq Abdullah do it again in Srinagar?

The clock is ticking on the Srinagar parliamentary seat election.  In less than 24 hours from now, the fate of 12 political leaders fighting for prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha seat will be sealed in Electronic Voting Machines ( EVMs) on Thursday.

The sprawling Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is spread over three districts --Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal--with more than 12.95 lakh voters.

The constituency is set to witness a three-cornered contest between former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah, Peoples Conference's Irfan Ansari and PDP's Agha Mohsin.

While Congress has not fielded any candidate against Abdullah, Khalid Jahangir is contesting on BJP's ticket.

The National Conference patriarch seems far ahead of his political rivals. At 81, Abdullah launched a rigorous poll campaign and addressed a string of  poll rallies in Srinagar.

Abdullah during his poll rallies and public meetings minced no words in upbraiding the central dispensation led by Bharatiya Janata Party. In one of his recently held public meeting, Abdullah challenged Prime Minister Modi to hold a public rally in Srinagar.

The protection for the Article 35 A remained  the  poll plank of National Conference during the party's campaigning.

"As Bhartiya Janta Party in its election manifesto titled "Sankalp" promised the annulment of Article 370,  the issues like unemployment, development and poverty took a back seat and were hardly been raised by political parties to woo the voters" said Shahnawaz Mantoo, a Srinagar based political observer.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency has always been the fief of National Conference. The party, however, in 2014 suffered a drubbing and the seat was won by Peoples Democratic Party candidate Tariq Hamid Karra while defeating Farooq Abdullah.

After senior Mufti tailored an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, the difference started cropping up  between Karra and PDP leadership and the rifts were  out in open following 2016 unrest in which more than a hundred young men lost their lives. In September 2016, Karra  resigned from Lok Sabha as well as PDP and joined Congress.

National Conference during the 2017 by-polls won back the seat amidst a scanty voter turn out.

While People's Conferences Irfan Ansari is rather a greenhorn in politics and Agha Mohsin's influence is only in some Shia dominated pockets, the odds for retaining the seat by Abdullah seem fair enough.

"The result of this seat would be important as it would reflect the public mood ahead of the next assembly elections," said Mantoo.