E-Paper
Farooq to contest polls, may run for CM's post
He has served thrice as the chief minister of the state. He had completed his term only in 1996-2002.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has announced that he would contest the next polls in the state and, according to party men, may even run for the chief minister's seat.
This is in sharp contrast to his declaration, on the eve of the 2002 assembly elections in which the National Conference was routed, that he would not contest.
At that time, his seat Ganderbal was contested by Omar, who lost it to Qazi Mohammad Afzal, now Public Health Engineering minister in the Congress-led coalition government.
Farooq Abdullah now holds the post of patron of the National Conference, which is headed by his son Omar.
He has served thrice as the chief minister of the state. He had completed his term only in 1996-2002.
Thereafter, faced with the onslaught of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), his party has been seeking a foothold in state politics.
PDP and the National Conference have emerged as the bitterest of rivals in Kashmir politics.
