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National Conference president and sitting MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah would not contest the Lok Sabha polls owing to his heath, the party said .
The announcement was made by his son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah at a party function in Rawalpora on the outskirts of Srinagar.
“He (Farooq Abdullah) has taken permission from (party’s general secretary) (Ali Mohammad) Sagar and other party members to not contest the polls this time because of his health,” Omar Abdullah said.
He said it is now the party’s responsibility to field the best candidate from the constituency. He hoped that the voters would help the NC candidate succeed so that he/she becomes a voice of the people of Srinagar in Delhi. In the 2002 Legislative Assembly elections, Omar Abdullah was chosen to lead the NC, while the 86-year-old Farooq Abdullah shifted base to the Centre. Farooq Abdullah was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 from Jammu and Kashmir and then re-elected in 2009.
He resigned from the Rajya Sabha in May 2009 and won a seat in the Lok Sabha from Srinagar. Abdullah joined the United Progressive Alliance government as a Cabinet Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
