Srinagar, Oct 30: Ruling National Conference (NC) is considering veteran NC leader and Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather as a possible candidate for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat after Member of Parliament from Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency Aga Syed Ruhullah vacates it on November 3, sources said.
They said senior NC legislator Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi) was being considered for Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
However, talking to Greater Kashmir, Khan said that he had not been informed about any such decision.
On October 27, at the swearing-in ceremony of four new ministers in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government’s Council of Ministers (CoM), over a dozen NC legislators were conspicuous by their absence, with reports attributing the absences to dissatisfaction over the distribution of ministerial positions and regional representation.
Gurezi was among those who did not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-inducted ministers.
Senior party leaders subsequently visited Gurezi at his Srinagar residence amid reports that he was unhappy at being left out of the expanded cabinet.
Against this backdrop, reports that Rather could be considered for the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary seat and Gurezi for the Legislative Assembly Speaker’s post have added another dimension to the party’s internal calculations.
Rather, a veteran NC leader and seven-time legislator from Charar-e-Sharief in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, was elected Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in November 2024.
Any move to field him for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat would involve a change in his current legislative role, subject to formal party decisions and the procedures governing the respective offices.
