Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll: Mehbooba’s brother in poll fray

: More than a year after the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Tasaduq Mufti, his son and brother of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has been announced as the People Democratic Party’s candidate from Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency for the upcoming byelections.

The constituency had fallen vacant after Mehbooba became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir last year.

Meanwhile, Nazir Ahmad Khan had been announced as the party’s candidate from Srinagar, after one of the PDP founders and a senior leader Tariq Hameed Karra left the party in protest after 2016 unrest. Khan, a former Congressman from Beerwah constituency had contested against former chief minister Omar Abdullah in 2014 assembly elections losing with a small margin.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of PDP’s Political Affairs Committee headed by Mehbooba, in Jammu on Tuesday evening. The meeting was also attended by senior leaders, including cabinet ministers.

Tasaduq, an acclaimed cinematographer of Omakara fame, had formally joined the party on the first death anniversary of his late father in a function held in Srinagar to remember the late Mufti. Till then, he had chosen to remain away from politics.

Pledging to bring ‘common people and VIPs walk together’, Tasaduq (45), had said his aim is to work hard till ‘every child gets a safe and pollution-free ride from home to school’.

Anantnag can prove to be an acid test for Tasaduq as the volatile constituency has seen most deaths during the summer unrest.