Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, Sep 4: In the upcoming assembly elections, a notable trend has emerged: lawyers, who are typically seen advocating in courtrooms, are now donning the political mantle to argue their cases before the public.
The interest of legal professionals in politics has seen a significant uptick, with various political parties placing their trust in these individuals. As many as 17 lawyers have been nominated as candidates across different parties.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has particularly shown strong confidence in legal professionals, fielding lawyer candidates in six out of the eight assembly seats in the Rajouri-Poonch region. Other parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Apni Party, have also followed suit by nominating lawyers, while the National Conference (NC) is yet to field any lawyer candidates.
This surge in the participation of professionals is not limited to lawyers alone. Among the candidates declared so far by the PDP, BJP, Apni Party, and National Conference, around 30 individuals belong to professions such as law, medicine, engineering, and academia. Following lawyers, doctors have emerged as the second most represented professional group, with seven candidates being fielded.
The PDP and NC have both chosen doctors as their candidates from Anantnag. The BJP has also fielded two doctor candidates: Dr. Davinder Maniyal from Ramgarh and Dr. Narendra Raina from RS Pura in Jammu. Furthermore, the BJP has shown trust in a professor and an engineer, who will contest from the Suchetgarh assembly seat.
In a similar vein, the PDP has nominated Dr. Shabbir and Mehboob Beg from Pahalgam and Anantnag, respectively, while also fielding an engineer from Jammu West. The National Conference has placed its faith in Dr. Washir and Dr. Sajjad from Anantnag and Uri, respectively. The party has also fielded a retired judge and an engineer, alongside a doctor candidate, Dr. Noor-Uddin, from Trehgam.
