Click to play videoNagrota, Jammu: When candidates of the Jammu and Kashmir National Democratic Front go out campaigning, some of them may feel nostalgic.
The Front is a party of Kashmiri migrants, and some of its candidates are returning to the state after two decades. Rakesh Handoo left Jammu and Kashmir 20 years ago and has now returned to contest elections from his birthplace in Hazratbal constituency.
“I am not ready to leave Kashmir at any cost. That is the main reason I am contesting the elections. I want to put my flag in the land where I was born; I want to kiss that land,” said Handoo.
Handoo represents the Jammu and Kashmir National United Front, the first ever political party floated by the Kashmiri migrants. Handoo’s has pinned his hopes on the 70,000 migrant votes scattered all over the country.
“I am trying my best to get the maximum votes and if there is a strike (electoral boycott by other parties) then I have a better chance. We have people (migrants) in Kanpur, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and I will be reaching out to them,” said Handoo.
The party has fielded 15 candidates in Kashmir but the disconnect is evident as most of them have been living outside the Valley. “Most of our constituencies belong to their constituencies and believe in co-existence,” says A K Deewani, working president of the party.
In the 2002 elections, a Kashmiri Pandit won from the Habbakadal constituency in Kashmir, as it had a substantial migrant vote. This time around the Front is again hoping for a poll boycott and the scattered votes of migrants.
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