Mehbooba Mufti stares at massive upset, as NC Gujjar leader pulls far ahead in Anantnag-Rajouri

A spiritual leader revered by the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities across Jammu and Kashmir, Mian Altaf Ahmad has taken a sizable lead in Anantnag-Rajouri, with a lead of more than 1 lakh votes over PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti as of 11 am.

In April, Ahmad had expressed his indecision about contesting from the constituency over health concerns last month. At the time, a perturbed Omar Abdullah rushed over to his home village Babanagri, a spiritual seat of the Gujjars. An hour-long meeting later, Altaf issued a video statement saying he was ready to contest.

It was a moment of great relief for the National Conference (NC), which found in Altaf, 67, a spiritual leader revered by the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities across Jammu and Kashmir. Anantnag-Rajouri, especially its newly added Rajouri and Poonch parts, has a substantial population of Gujjars and Bakerwals and the NC had so far failed to create a leader of prominence in the area.

A win for NC also holds value because on the other side is former CM and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and the Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas. For Mufti, left out of the NC-Congress alliance, it was a battle to retain her political legacy and with a second straight loss from the constituency that will take a hit.

Manhas, on the other hand, is a leader of the Pahari community, which has been wooed by the BJP with ST status and is seen as enjoying the BJP’s tacit support. The People’s Conference, whose leader Sajad Lone is taking on Omar, the NC vice-president, in Baramulla, had officially offered its backing to Manhas.

In his campaign, Altaf kept Mufti in his sights. “In 2014, a political party (an apparent reference to the PDP) said only they can save Jammu and Kashmir from