Return of patriarch: Farooq steps in as NC old guard reasserts influence to check Omar

The stand-off between the 17 MLAs of the ruling National Conference (NC) and Kashmir’s first political family, the Abdullahs, has had a rare consequence. It has brought the 89-year-old party patriarch, Farooq Abdullah, back into the saddle to steer the party and shape how the government functions, after he had nearly faded from affairs run entirely by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The stalemate began on October 27 with the CM’s Cabinet reshuffle, after which at least three senior party leaders publicly expressed resentment over not being inducted. Later that day, the disgruntled legislators held a meeting, conspicuously in the absence of the Abdullahs, and subsequently submitted a charter of demands to the party leadership, which included intensifying the struggle for the restoration of Statehood and special status, removing Nasir Aslam Wani as the CM’s Adviser and reassigning the Roads and Buildings portfolio, currently held by Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary.