Personality to play key role in Banihal contest

BANIHAL (DODA): Militants dominate the remote mountainous terrain of this last outpost of the Doda district which is contiguous to the Anantnag district of the Kashmir valley.
Despite a strong wave in favour of the National Conference (NC) in 1996, independent candidate Farooq Ahmed Mir had won from this constituency at the time by a margin of nearly 3000 votes against the NC candidate and nearest rival Moulvi Abdul Rashid.
Taking note of Mir’s performance at the hustings and in the assembly over the last six years, NC chief Omar Abdullah offered him the party mandate this time. After winning the elections as an independent in 1996, he had shifted over to the NC the next year.
Shortly, Rashid filed his nomination as an independent but Farooq Mir’s is likely to sail through as he has a good hold over the people of the constituency.
The BJP and the Congress have also fielded their candidates but they are on a weak wicket mainly because of Mir’s personality and the work he has done during his tenure.
Fayaz Ahmed, a supporter of Mir, says: ‘‘If Mir Saheb contests on the BJP ticket or as a Bajrang Dal nominee, we will still vote for him. He is devoted to his people and is always ready to help the people of his constituency, irrespective of their party affiliations.’’
Asked how he manages to win the people of other persuasions to his side, Farooq Mir says: ‘‘Some people are bound to vote against me at the hustings as they did the last time. However, after the elections I made it to point to try to win over the supporters of the rival candidates.
‘‘This has paid rich dividends as I believe that a legislator represents every single voter of his constituency and not only those who voted for him. As such, he/she should help everyone who comes seeking help.’’
In all, there are nine candidates in the fray but the vote is likely to be divided among the NC nominee, Congress candidate Mohammed Ayub Khan and Peoples Democratic Party nominee Bahar Ahmed Runyal.
Banihal is the smallest constituency in Doda district as the total electorate here is just 49,590 of which 27,639 are males and only 21, 951 females.
There are hardly any major issues on which the candidates are focusing their attention. The NC nominee interacts with the people in the constituency seeking votes in the name of his good performance as legislator despite being an independent.
At his public rallies, he flips the coin and tries to win over voters by saying that since NC would form the government under Omar Abdullah’s leadership this time, he would be able to get more funds for the constituency as a ruling party legislator.
I A Bhat, a Congress supporter, says the chances of Mir winning again are not very good this time as his party has been able to create an anti-NC wave, particularly in the Jammu region of which Banihal is a part. But he admits that the Congress nominee has not remained very active during the last six years and is not very visible.