SRINAGAR: A non-local will contest the Lok Sabha elections from J&K for the first time after the 2019 abrogation of Article 370. Punjab social worker Baldev Kumar is in the fray from Rajouri-Anantnag constituency as an independent.
The 67-year-old resident of Mohali, near Chandigarh, was assigned his election symbol Tuesday, pitting him against 21 candidates, including former CM and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference’s Mian Altaf in the May 7 polls.
Kumar counts among his supporters patients from Kashmir who travel for advanced treatment to Chandigarh where he has been engaged in social work for 20 years.
Non-locals were eligible to contest LS polls in J&K even before abrogation of Article 370 in Aug 2019. In the general elections earlier that year, an Uttar Pradesh native, Shamas Khwaja, had contested as an independent from Anantnag, but lost. Several political parties and locals had protested Khwaja’s candidature but the Election Commission rejected the objections. Elections rules were amended after the abrogation but the changes applied to assembly and panchayat polls, requiring contestants to furnish domicile proof of stay in J&K for at least 11 years, officials said.
Although Kumar is treading a path rarely travelled, he is undaunted by the challenges. “I have been hosting patients from Kashmir in Chandigarh at my home and want to build a 100-room Kashmir House for them in future. The patients are my supporters and will campaign for me in every corner of Anantnag,” Kumar said. According to him, it was the “insistence” of these patients that led him to enter the fray. “I am hopeful of being the winner,” he said.
Kumar runs Jan Ekta Seva Sangathan, an NGO which oversees his social work. “I have worked with people here (J&K) in the 2014 floods,” Kumar said, adding he also helps students from Kashmir in Chandigarh.
Kumar admits he has no direct relation with Kashmir, except an emotional connection through his father’s name, Kashmiri Lal. “My social work has been passed on to me from my father, who ran a pharmacy shop and helped people,” he said.
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