National Conference (NC) patron Farooq Abdullah will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the Assembly elections scheduled for November-December. Making an announcement to this effect, party president Omar Abdullah expressed confidence that the NC would bounce back to power in the state and, alluding to the previous coalition Government’s instability, said the state needed a stable Government that could deliver.

Omar was talking to mediapersons at a function at the party headquarters here to welcome a BSP leader into the party fold. He, however, did not disclose the Assembly constituency from where the NC patron will contest. He also said key decisions relating to the polls would be taken by him (Omar).

“I will be responsible for everything...positives or negatives....Credit of victory will be shared by all but if anything goes wrong, blame will be entirely on me...,” he said.

The NC suffered a debacle in the 2002 elections in which Farooq Abdullah did not participate. He, however, was the star campaigner in a number of constituencies. Even though the NC emerged the single largest party with 26 seats, the party could not form the Government.

Soon after Omar became the party president in June 2002, Farooq in a way announced his ‘retirement’ from politics, apparently to put his son at the forefront. But his staying away from politics proved disastrous for him as well as the party, with people blaming the senior Abdullah for leaving cadres in a soup. So, a rethink has been going on for some time now that the party leadership should not repeat the mistake of 2002 and will not only make Farooq contest the elections but also make him the chief ministerial candidate.

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