Their family tussle is back in the political battle field of Jammu and Kashmir. National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah is likely to get a tough fight from estranged sister Khaleda Shah in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
The parliamentary segment, which has largely been a National Conference bastion, will see a triangular fight May 7. Prominent Shia leader Iftikhar Hussain Ansari of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has queered the pitch in the constituency that has a sizeable Shia population.
Ansari and Khalida, the elder sister of Abdullah, filed their nominations Saturday.
Khalida filed on the ticket from the Awami National Conference (ANC) - the outfit her late husband and former chief minister GM Shah floated after falling out with the National Conference.
But both Ansari and Khalida have a tough task on hand. Farooq Abdullah has never lost an election. This is his second Lok Sabha attempt. He was elected from Srinagar in 1980 un-opposed.
The brother-sister tussle is 25 years old. The late Shah toppled the government of his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah in 1984. Shah managed the defection of 12 National Conference legislators and staked claim to form the government with support from the Congress.
{{/usCountry}}The brother-sister tussle is 25 years old. The late Shah toppled the government of his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah in 1984. Shah managed the defection of 12 National Conference legislators and staked claim to form the government with support from the Congress.
{{/usCountry}}But this time, the Congress is supporting the National Conference.