NC, PDP kick-start Lok Sabha poll campaign in Kashmir Valley

Srinagar: Kashmir is warming up for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections as major political parties in the valley like the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) held a series of rallies on Sunday, with the new entrant Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement led by former IAS officer Shah Faesal also making its debut.

National Conference (NC) vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah chose PDP stronghold of south Kashmir to kick-start the mass contact programme as the party organised a rally at Khanabal in Anantnag district of the militancy-hit region.

Although the party has not announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls for the three seats in the valley, Abdullah starting the campaign from south Kashmir shows that the party is focussed on gaining the lost ground in what has turned into a stronghold for the PDP over the past two decades.