Announcing the names of the candidates in a press conference in Srinagar, the chairman of the parliamentary affairs committee of the Apni Party, Dillawar Mir said Mohammad Ashraf Mir would contest the Srinagar seat while Zafar Iqbal Manhas has been fielded from Anantnag.
Photo: ANI
Following failed talks with the DPAP leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for a joint contest of the parliamentary election, the Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari on Thursday announced its candidates for the Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats of the Kashmir valley.
Announcing the names of the candidates in a press conference in Srinagar, the chairman of the parliamentary affairs committee of the Apni Party, Dillawar Mir said Mohammad Ashraf Mir would contest the Srinagar seat while Zafar Iqbal Manhas has been fielded from Anantnag.
Senior vice-president of the party, Ghulam Hassan Mir, was present in the press conference.
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Manhas is a Pahari politician and also a writer and poet belonging to South Kashmir’s Shopian district. He was MLC of the PDP and joined the Apni Party in 2020.
Dillawar Mir said efforts were made to reach an understanding with the DPAP for jointly contesting the elections, but the talks did not mature.
Replying to a question on the Apni Party being nicknamed B-team of the BJP, Mir said that the National Conference (NC) and PDP that are called by that name have in the past themselves been allies of the BJP.
He said the party has not yet decided about the Baramulla seat for which polling will be held in the last phase on 26 May.
The Apni Party is the first to declare its candidate for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat that is currently represented by the NC chief Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
The NC has fielded Mian Altaf for the Anantnag seat, whereas the DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad is himself contesting from there.
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