Congress to field Azad’s brother in Bhaderwah bypoll

The Bhaderwah seat has been a Congress bastion with Niaz being an earlier MLA from the constituency. He had to resign from the seat to make way for his brother Ghulam Nabi Azad,who contested the election few months after taking over as the Chief Minister in a power-sharing agreement with the People’s Democratic Party. Azad defeated NC candidate Mohammad Aslam Goni from Bhaderwah.

However,the former Chief Minister had to resign from the seat after he was elected uncontested to the Rajya Sabha along with Congress state president and Union Water Resource Minister Saifudin Soz. Their election has been challenged in the state High Court by a former Congress ally,Panther’s Party,which has sought directions against both Soz and Azad from attending the proceedings of the Upper House of Parliament.

By fielding Niaz from the Bhaderwah seat,the Congress has put at rest the speculations that a senior bureaucrat and an IAS officer in Omar Abdullah-led Government will be fielded by the party from the seat.

Sources in the Congress said that Niaz was the lone choice for this seat and the party took the decision in his favour as he had won the seat earlier.

PDP general secretary Daman Bhasin,however,said that his party candidate was in a stronger position and will be able to win the elections. “It was the party’s political affairs committee which decided to field Shiekh Mujeeb from the Bhaderwah Assembly seat and sister-in-law of former finance minister Tariq Hameed Qarra from the Hazrtabal Assembly seat. The decision was taken in the political affairs committee meeting of the party,which was held here on Wednesday and was chaired by party president Mehbooba Mufti,” he said.