SRINAGAR, Sep 17: The entry of former Jamaat-e-Islami member Talat Majid Alie into the electoral fray has spiced up the contest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama assembly constituency. Three-time MLA Mohammad Khalil Bandh and PDP youth president Waheed Para are among the 12 candidates vying to represent the seat that was once a hotbed of militancy. While there are seven independents in the fray for this constituency, the BJP surprisingly has not fielded a candidate from Pulwama.
In the run up to the poll announcement, the contest to represent Pulwama was seen as a two-horse race between Para and Bandh, who is contesting on a National Conference (NC) ticket. The two candidates were in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for more than a decade. However, the dark horse in this constituency is Alie, a PhD holder in Soil Sciences.
He was a Rukn-e-Jamaat (member of Jamaat) when the party was banned by the Centre in February 2019 for propagating separatism. Alie had joined Apni Party founded by businessman-turned-politician Altaf Bukhari last year but is contesting the polls as an Independent candidate. “I am not under any pressure.
I have been advocating change since 2014. Since I did not get an opportunity there, I was looking for other options for a platform to bring that change,” Alie said when he announced his decision to contest the polls. With several other influential Jamaat leaders contesting the polls as Independents – such as Sayar Ahmad Reshi in Kulgam and Abdul.