SRINAGAR — The Rajpora Assembly segment in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district is set to witness a close contest between four candidates from three regional and one national party.
According to the news agency KNO, the five candidates in the running include Ghulam Mohiudin Mir of the National Conference (NC), Syed Bashir Ahmad of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Ghulam Nabi Wani of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Mudasir Hassan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Arshid Ahmad Bhat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ghulam Mohiudin Mir
A resident of Murran village in Pulwama district, Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir was the MLA for the Rajpora constituency in 1996 but has lost the last three consecutive elections to PDP candidates. He has been working hard over the past several months to win over voters and is considered one of the main contenders for the Rajpora seat.
Syed Bashir Ahmad Shah
Syed Bashir Ahmad Shah, a resident of the Rajpora area, won the Assembly elections twice, in 2002 and 2008. However, he was expelled from the PDP in 2014 for anti-party activities after the mandate was given to Haseeb Drabu, who went on to win the seat.
Syed later ran as an independent candidate and garnered around 5,500 votes. He briefly switched to the Apni Party but has now rejoined the PDP and is contesting the elections on the party's ticket, aiming for a third win.
Ghulam Nabi Niloora
An engineer by profession, Ghulam Nabi Niloora entered politics as his father and brother had both served as MLAs for NC on three occasions. His father, Ghulam Qadir Wani, passed away, and his brother, Nazir Ahmad Wani, was killed in the 1990s.
Despite his association with NC, Wani ran as an independent candidate in 2014 after being denied a mandate, receiving approximately 6,500 votes. Now contesting on a DPAP ticket, Wani is the only candidate from the Shahoora hamlet, which consists of about two dozen villages.
Analysts believe that if he can secure a good number of votes from his area, he could significantly influence the outcome.
Mudasir Hassan
Mudasir Hassan, a resident of the Rajpora area, is also emerging as a key contender. He enjoys strong support in his native area and has been conducting door-to-door campaigning to attract more voters, positioning himself as one of the top contenders for the seat.
Arshid Ahmad Bhat
Arshid Ahmad Bhat, a BJP candidate, has also been actively campaigning throughout the constituency and is expected to take a significant share of votes.
According to analysts, Ghulam Nabi Wani could once again split NC's votes, which could benefit the PDP. However, PDP's decision to field a candidate who was expelled in 2014 and only recently rejoined the party might pose challenges in mobilising workers, they said.
In 2014, Ghulam Mohiudin Mir and Ghulam Nabi Wani jointly received around 21,000 votes, while Drabu secured 18,000 votes, with the division in NC's votes benefiting PDP. A similar scenario could unfold again, according to analysts.
Votes from the Shahoora hamlet are expected to play a key role, and the outcome may hinge on this area.
AC 35-Rajpora is the largest constituency in the district, with 1,09,543 registered voters, including 54,554 males, 54,983 females, and 6 transgender individuals.
This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse
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