Jailed Kashmiri cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay on Thursday filed nomination papers for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls from two seats, Ganderbal and Beerwah days after his candidature was rejected from another constituency. Wagay, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati, a prominent face at the protest rallies in the south Kashmir districts of Shopian and Kulgam after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016, had earlier filed his nomination from the Zainpora Assembly constituency in Shopian.
However, his nomination was rejected because the papers did not include the certificate of oath that was to be duly signed by the jail authorities. On Thursday, Barkati’s representatives filed his nomination papers from Ganderbal as well as from Beerwah.
National Conference (NC) vice-president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah will also contest the upcoming polls from Ganderbal. Abdullah represented Beerwah in the last Assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Barkati was first arrested in 2016 and booked under the Public Safety Act. He was again arrested last year and is facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to the chargesheet filed against him in a court earlier this year, Barkati – an active ideologue, promoter and supporter of the terrorist-secessionist nexus — hatched a criminal conspiracy with others, including his family members, to facilitate, aid, incite, advise, advocate and promote terrorist and secessionist ideologies and activities through his inflammatory speeches. The 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is scheduled to go to polls in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1, and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.