Mehbooba Mufti submits a nomination for the Lok Sabha constituency of Anantnag-Rajouri

Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), submitted her nomination papers on Thursday for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir. The seat is scheduled to hold elections in the third phase on May 7.

Mehbooba showed up to the office of Deputy Commissioner Syed Fakhruddin, the constituency’s returning officer, with hundreds of fans and a few party officials in tow in order to submit her paperwork.

The former chief minister urged voters not to abstain from voting, saying that “this election is about the assault launched on dignity, identity, and resources” of Jammu and Kashmir, in an interview with media after the votes.

“I implore the people of Jammu and Kashmir to refrain from abstaining from the polls. They are attempting to implement a boycott in south Kashmir. Their plots need to be made public. Choose the candidate who, in your opinion, will speak out more on behalf of the downtrodden and the incarcerated, she said.

According to the PDP president, development concerns like roads, water, and power had no bearing on the outcome of the Lok Sabha election.

“There is no ‘bijli, pani, or sadak’ in this election. The goal of this election is to put a stop to the attack on our identity, assets, resources, and dignity that began after 2019. It has nothing to do with the PDP, the NC, or any other political party. The problem at hand is that Kashmir has been transformed into a jail outside.

All of our resources are being taken from us now. We are being tried to be forced into bond labor. This is not going to happen. We own this land and the jobs that are on it. We won’t put up with identity theft,” she said.

The delimitation procedure that took place in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022 resulted in the creation of this constituency, which was divided from portions of the Anantnag-Pulwama and Jammu-Poonch-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats. This Friday is the deadline for registering nominations.

The PDP president and NC’s powerful Gujjar leader Mian Altaf Ahmad are anticipated to engage in a virtual duel, with the BJP not anticipated to nominate a candidate and the DPAP pulling Ghulam Nabi Azad from the contest on Wednesday.

Mohammad Saleem Parray, a candidate for Azad’s DPAP, is running against Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a candidate for the Apni Party who also submitted his nomination papers on Thursday.