NC Anantnag candidate Mehboob Beig withdraws; to campaign for primary ... - Economic Times

SRINAGAR: Mehboob Beig, the ruling National Conference candidate from Anantnag, has withdrawn from the assembly election to campaign for his primary opponent, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the leader of the People's Democratic Front.

Beig said he is not joining the PDP and will instead campaign door-to door for Mufti Sayeed, given his "stature, leadership qualities and contributions" to Kashmir.

"There is no possibility of winning against him," Beig said of Mufti Sayeed. "Nobody in Kashmir stands a chance of winning against him." The NC, led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said it will identify a new candidate in a day or two to replace Beig, who was defeated by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"During his campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections, he would accuse Mufti Sayeed of being a mass murderer and a killer and now he sees him as a visionary - it is opportunism and selfishness of the highest order," NC spokesman Junaid Mattoo said.

Beig told party workers at a meeting in Anantnag that South Kashmir had been sidelined and that some people had a grouse against him. He said that while his selection as candidate for the LS elections was quick, his candidature for the assembly polls took some time to be announced.

The decision to drop out of the race came within days of PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beig appealing for support for Mufti.

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