This morning, however, was different. In a dramatic turn of events, Farooq took off a garland from around his neck to welcome his son Omar and announce the generational shift. After a warm hug, the father said: “Omar will be our chief ministerial candidate and I will take care of the party. We will need a lot of work to build the party”.

Sources said the party’s old guard preferred the father. In fact, they point out that Farooq was brought to lead the NC’s poll campaign especially as the party was nervous given the mood after the Amarnath yatra crisis. Farooq did manage to energize the party base but he did not go down well with the overwhelming number of new voters.

Sources said that the views of Farooq Abdullah’s wife Molly Abdullah, too, weighed in the son’s favour while the family’s powerful patriarch and life-long General Secretary Sheikh Nazir had been always supporting the return of Farooq. The father finally gave in and decided to take over the party instead to keep himself and the NC old guard in the loop.

According to Congress sources, the PDP sent “feelers” about its readiness to offer the post of Chief Ministership to the Congress if it were to revive the old coalition arrangement. A section of the party has been in favour of an alliance with the PDP on the plea that it would help marginalize the separatist elements in the Valley. The Congress was, however, skeptical about the durability of such government whose survival would depend on so many Independents; the Congress and PDP together have 38 members in the 87-member Assembly while the Congress banked on the support of two other Independents whom it had supported.

... contd.