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Farooq gives up Ganderbal seat for son Omar

Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has bowed out of the electoral fray in favour of his son and National Conference president Omar Abdullah.

Omar Abdullah, who is also the Union minister of state for external affairs, will be the ruling party's new nominee in Ganderbal constituency of Srinagar district and also its chief ministerial candidate.

Farooq Abdullah has represented Ganderbal since 1983. Before him, his father, the late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, held the seat since 1975.

Farooq Abdullah may move to the Rajya Sabha, probably from Ladakh, whose representative is to retire in November this year. But it is not clear if he will be joining the central government.

"My father wants to retire from politics, but I am of the firm belief that a politician of his stature has a lot to contribute to the state and the entire nation," Omar Abdullah said.

Party sources in Srinagar said Abdullah, Sr, would remain their star campaigner.

The party on Friday released its list of candidates for the second phase of the four-phase election, in which 27 assembly constituencies in Srinagar, Budgam, and Jammu districts will go to the polls.

The list was decided at a meeting of the party's high-powered central election board comprising, among others, Dr Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed.

PTI Adds: In keeping with Omar Abdullah's policy of inducting new faces, several current legislators, including Minister of State for Education Aga Syed Mehmood, have been dropped.

The list, which includes several youngsters, including a woman, Shameema Firdous, and a new entrant to the party, Ghulam Nabi Mir Lasjan, has sprung many surprises, especially in Jammu and Srinagar districts. Six new faces have been introduced in Jammu and three in Srinagar.

The current MLA from Amirakadal has been dropped in favour of Ghulam Nabi Mir Lasjan, son of the late Ghulam Mohammed Mir Lasjan, a political stalwart from the valley and minister in the 1987 Farooq Abdullah government.

In Jammu district, the party has replaced almost all its candidates who lost in the 1996 election in an effort to revive its political fortunes on the other side of the Pir Panjal range.

Among the prominent politicians to have been given party tickets are Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, Health Minister Mian Altaf Ahmed, Works Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, Transport and Information Minister Ajatshatru Singh, and Minister of State for Rural Development Ajay K Sadhotra.

The party has fielded Sports Minister Harbans Singh, a member of the Upper House of the state legislature, from the Gandhi Nagar constituency.

EARLIER REPORT:
Farooq Abdullah will not contest election

Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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