After being rescheduled from May 7 Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag Rajouri are being held on May 25 in the sixth phase.
The reason for the postponement is said to be the influence of the Gujjar-Bakarwal nomadic community that comprises a major chunk of the population.
A nomadic cattle-rearing people practicing seasonal migration, the Gujjar Bakarwals move to the cooler higher reaches of Kashmir in summer in search of pastures for their cattle to graze. When it gets too cold in winter they move back to Jammu.
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and NC leader Omar Abdullah have alleged that the poll dates had been deferred in the constituency as the nomadic
community, most of them followers of Islam, would be moving out of Jammu, hence giving a lead to pro-BJP forces.
Both Mufti and Abdullah had urged the community members to stay back and vote.
Over 38 per cent of Gujjar-Bakarwal electors live in Rajouri and Poonch district, which makes their influence on the election outcome extremely important.
The only difference between Gujjars and Bakarwals is that while their sub-caste is the same, the former rear cows and buffaloes and practice agriculture while the latter depend on rearing of goats and sheep.
The population of Bakarwals is about 10 lakh in the whole state and that of Gujjars is about 24 lakh.
However, after a recently performed delimitation exercise, Rajouri and Poonch districts have been merged into Anantnag, which used to be a separate constituency until the last parliamentary elections held in 2019.
With the inclusion of the two border districts, earlier neglected by the leadership of both Jammu and Kashmir, the nomadic community have become "kingmakers" in this constituency.
Appeasing the electorate, therefore, is now a priority for political parties, so most of them have set up camp to spend as much time as they can over here.
Mufti and her daughter Iltija Mufti have been campaigning in different parts of the constituency.
Speaking for her mother, Iltija said, "Delimitation has somewhat become an opportunity rather than a disadvantage; delimitation has brought focus on the earlier neglected areas."
It was a carefully-worded statement viewed by political commentators as a voter appeasement move.
Similarly, DPAP Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad has repeatedly tried to woo voters by announcing "free electricity, jobs, and free rations, along with reinstatement of the now nullified Roshni Act," aimed at empowering poor families by providing them land and houses.
What’s the result of the Central government’s schemes such as "free ration to the poor and compensation for building pakka (concrete) houses under PM Awas Yojana," remains to be seen.
The NC leadership, while campaigning for the seat, has repeatedly asked people to vote against Article 370 abrogation.
NC chief Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, and their candidate for Anantnag Rajouri, Mian Altaf Larvi, have promised to raise their voices in Parliament, especially for the neglected nomadic population.
With political heavyweights like Mehbooba Mufti, Mian Larvi, a prominent Gujjar leader, and BJP-backed Altaf Bukhari in the fray, it will be interesting to see who wins this much-coveted seat when the results are out on June 4.
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