Assembly elections 2024: Young leaders Shamim Ganai, Dr. Udeshpaul performed well; ex-MLA Tantray fails to repeat his past performance

Assembly elections 2024: Young leaders Shamim Ganai, Dr. Udeshpaul performed well; ex-MLA Tantray fails to repeat his past performance

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: Although the result of Poonch Haveli constituency remained a one-sided affair for the NC candidate Ajaz Jan, behind the curtains, young leaders who contested the assembly elections for the first time, like Shamim Ganai and Dr. Udeshpaul, performed well despite having no powerful influences at their back. Shamim Ganai, who remained BDC Chairman Mandi, fought the assembly election for the first time with a PDP mandate.

Ganai also fought DDC elections earlier against ex-MLA Shah Mohd Tantary and Riyaaz Choudhary, but in that election, Riyaaz Choudhary emerged victorious and Ganai tasted defeat. Ganai, who is the district president of the PDP, stayed loyal to the party for years, which was launched by the late Mufti Mohd Sayeed. Considered a trusted lieutenant of Mehbooba Mufti, Ganai fought the assembly election without any big support, ultimately performed well, and took 8,631 votes alone. When contacted, Ganai said, “I tried my best to impress upon the people to stand with PDP, and in return, people gave me much love. I am thankful to my leader, madam Mehboba Mufti, for giving me this opportunity. Defeat or victory is part and parcel of an election, but I assure the people that my leader, Mehbooba Mufti, and I will continue to stand with them in their good and bad times.” Ganai is considered a strong youth PDP leader, but political observers believe that despite no support at his back, he fought independently and managed to save the pride of his party to a considerable extent. On the other hand, Dr. Udeshpaul Sharma, who is the son of ex-MLC late Yashpaul Sharma, fought the assembly election for the first time without any kind of big support structure and took a respectable 5,731 votes. A large chunk of people who remembered the contributions of his late father stood with him and helped in his respectable entry into the political arena. After this respectable performance on the very first attempt, it is likely that Dr. Udeshpaul will play a decisive role during the next municipality elections, which are likely to be held in due course of time. Dr. Udeshpaul has shown that he will carry the family’s political legacy of his father in the future. On the other hand, ex-MLA Shah Mohd Tantray, who won the 2014 assembly election on a PDP mandate, this time failed to repeat his past performance of 19,488 votes and finally got 9,090 votes. Tantray, who was labeled as a dark horse by the political pundits before the assembly elections, fell short to a large extent as his performance of 9,090 votes dismissed the prediction of political pundits that Tantray would perform well and could enter into a triangular contest with the NC and BJP. Tantray’s famous political dialogue of “Gareebon ka karwan” failed to influence the voters at the ground level, but his performance of 9,090 votes indicates that he can play a big role if he decides to take part in the next DCC or BDC elections. Although the Poonch haveli is won by Ajaz Jan almost in a one-sided affair, the good performance of Shamim Ganai and Dr. Udeshpaul, that too without any support of all kinds, has opened more political options for the people to choose among the possible contenders. The emergence of young leadership in Poonch politics is an encouraging sign. It’s a different issue whether all these young leaders would come up to the expectations of the people or not.