If there was ever a swing constituency in Kashmir, it is this small township on the outskirts of Srinagar. More than an individual addition to the seat tally, a win here is sought by parties — especially the NC and PDP—- for its overarching symbolic significance as proof of their electoral sway over the Valley. And with the upcoming Assembly election, Ganderbal is poised for yet another pivotal contest.

The constituency has been a traditional stronghold of the National Conference (NC), with members of the Abdullah dynasty always choosing it for their personal contest. In that sense, Ganderbal is to the Abdullahs what Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi or Rae Bareli is to the Gandhis. The NC’s legendary founder, Sheikh Abdullah, fought and won with a huge margin from Ganderbal in1977 while his son Farooq Abdullah contested in the subsequently elections of 1983, 1987 and 1996 and won resoundingly on each occasion. However, in 2002, the Abdullah magic seemed to have thinned when newly-elected party president and chief ministerial candidate Omar Abdullah lost his maiden contest from the constituency.

More than the rout in other parts of the state, it was the loss in Ganderbal that finally ended the NC’s determined bid to retain power in the state. The party’s loss of face here was seen as the people’s own vote of no confidence against it. What made this even more humiliating was that Omar was defeated by a relatively obscure candidate of the newly-floated Peoples Democratic Party, Qazi Muhammad Afzal.

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