Setting the stage for a triangular contest on the newly carved-out Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Monday fielded tallest Gujjar leader Mian Altaf Ahmad replacing sitting MP Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi from the seat.

By giving a mandate to the son of a Veteran Gujjar leader and Padma Bhushan awardee Mian Bashir Ahmed, the National Conference's top brass has decided to launch an aggressive poll campaign to woo the sizable Gujjar Bakerwal vote bank in the wake of a reservation granted to the Pahari ethnic group by the ruling BJP led government at the centre.

Mian Altaf belongs to the politico-religious family of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. His great grandfather, Mian Abdullah Larvi, was a saint with influence on both Gujjar and Pahari communities. His grandfather, Mian Nazim ud Din, had contested as an independent candidate, while his father, Mian Bashir Ahmad, won the assembly elections from Kangan on the Congress ticket.

The Anantnag constituency, which spreads across the Pir Panjal range to include Rajouri and Poonch areas after the delimitation, will go to polls on May 7 in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The Lok Sabha seat was won by the National Conference in 2019 and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are yet to formally clear the names of their party candidates from the prized Lok Sabha seat. The candidature of a five-time MLA from the Kangan assembly segment may force the BJP to change its mind.

As per the grapevine, PDP Chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is once again planning to throw her hat in the poll arena while BJP is still weighing its options on whether to field their candidate or support a joint candidate of another like-minded party from the valley.