By IANS,
Srinagar : Their family tussle is back in the political battle field of Jammu and Kashmir. National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah is likely to get a tough fight from estranged sister Khaleda Shah in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
The parliamentary segment, which has largely been a National Conference bastion, will see a triangular fight May 7. Prominent Shia leader Iftikhar Hussain Ansari of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has queered the pitch in the constituency that has a sizeable Shia population.
Ansari and Khalida, the elder sister of Abdullah, filed their nominations Saturday.
Khalida filed on the ticket from the Awami National Conference (ANC) – the outfit her late husband and former chief minister G.M. Shah floated after falling out with the National Conference.
But both Ansari and Khalida have a tough task on hand. Farooq Abdullah has never lost an election. This is his second Lok Sabha attempt. He was elected from Srinagar in 1980 un-opposed.
The brother-sister tussle is 25 years old. The late Shah toppled the government of his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah in 1984. Shah managed the defection of 12 National Conference legislators and staked claim to form the government with support from the Congress.
But this time, the Congress is supporting the National Conference.