National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday became the first political leader in Jammu and Kashmir to file his nomination from two constituencies for the upcoming assembly election.

He filed his papers for the Beerwah seat of the Budgam district as well his traditional Ganderbal constituency.

Top leaders of two other political parties, Ravinder Raina (BJP) and Tariq Hameed Karra (Congress) accompanied by a large number of supporters also filed their papers.

Omar filing his papers from two constituencies displays the insecurity in him on winning the election from his family’s traditional Ganderbal seat.

He had lost the recent Lok Sabha election from Baramulla. At least three hardliners have filed their nominations against Omar in Ganderbal.

Omar had earlier announced that he would not contest the Assembly elections until full statehood was restored to J&K, but now his move to contest the election from two seats has surprised many.

His electoral sailing in Budgam was also not very smooth, political observers point out. An influential Shia cleric and NC leader Aga Syed Mehmood, who was an aspirant for the party ticket, had yesterday said that he won’t campaign for Omar after being denied the mandate.

There were reports that before filing his papers, Omar met Aga Syed and sought his support.

Today was the last day for the filing of nomination papers for the second phase of the three-phased assembly elections. Voting for the first phase will be held on 18 September, followed by the second phase on 25 September and the third phase on 1 October.

Congress chief of J&K, Tariq Hameed Karra filed his nomination papers from the Central Shalteng constituency. He urged the people to vote wisely asserting that it was not just an election after 10 years, but a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape Jammu and Kashmir’s destiny for the next 100 years”.

The 69-year-old Karra, a former Jammu and Kashmir minister, also defended his party’s alliance with the NC for the polls, saying it was to fight against “dictatorship” and to “reclaim what is rightfully ours”.

Karra is a former PDP leader who quit the party in 2016. He was a severe critic of the BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir that lasted for three years before ending in 2018.

He defeated the NC chief Dr. Farooq Abdullah from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in 2014. He joined the Congress in 2017, a few months after he resigned from the Lok Sabha and the basic membership of the PDP.

J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina filed his nomination papers for the Nowshera Assembly constituency in Rajouri district. He held a roadshow with RSS functionary and former BJP general secretary Ram Madhav. This marks Raina’s second contest from the seat.

“This isn’t just my candidacy, it represents the aspirations of 1.25 lakh people of the Nowshera constituency. It is their mandate and the voice of the people. The overwhelming turnout here, reminiscent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies, shows BJP’s imminent victory,” Raina said during a public rally.

Madhav urged voters to support BJP for continued peace, progress, and development. “BJP will emerge as the single-largest party in J&K. Our candidates contesting in the valley are strong and poised to lead in the elections,” He said.

“The forthcoming government in Jammu and Kashmir will be of nationalists, not anti-nationals,” Madhav added.