Sajad Lone to contest LS polls from Baramulla: Peoples Conference

Srinagar: Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone would contest the forthcoming Parliamentary polls from north Kashmir's Baramulla constituency, the party announced on Monday.

The party also said it will take a decision on the other two seats in the Kashmir valley in due course of time, but would not contest any seat in the Jammu region of the Union Territory.

"In response to the duty assigned to me by the party to hold discussions with party leaders, and ascertain the best possible way forward in the upcoming Parliamentary elections, I have had extensive discussions over the past two weeks. I met all constituency heads and block level leaders," secretary general of the party, Imran Ansari said in a post on X.

He said that based on his discussion with the party leaders, the party has decided to fight and field a candidate from the Baramulla Parliamentary seat.

"We will take a call about other seats based on our limited resources and also how best to defeat the common enemy of the people of J and K. Apart from Baramulla, we will fight only where we believe we can win on our own and either seek support or give support respectively to any party best suited to defeat the biggest enemy of the people of J and K," he said.

For the Baramulla Parliamentary seat, the leadership and the rank and file of the party have overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of the party president Sajad Gani Lone, Ansari said.

"It is with great pleasure I formally announce that Mr Sajad Lone has acceded to the demand of the party. He will be the candidate of the party from Baramulla Parliamentary seat," the PC secretary general said.

"We all wish him the best and believe that the fiercest speeches on the floor of the parliament, advocating the just cause of our people will finally be delivered by Mr Sajad Lone after a painful wait of 7 decades. The people of J and K will finally get the chance to roar," Ansari, an influential Shia leader, said on X.

In the name of Allah most Benificant and Merciful. In response to the duty assigned to me by the party to hold discussions with party leaders, and ascertain the best possible way forward in the upcoming Parliamentary elections, I have had extensive discussions over the past…

— Imran Reza Ansari (@imranrezaansari) February 26, 2024

However, the party said it would not fight in the Jammu region and would not be instrumental in wasting or diverting a single vote through vote division.

"Our position about other two seats in the Kashmir region will become clear in the coming week or at the most two weeks," Ansari said.