When Sheikh Abdullah Was in Jail, Syed Ali Shah Geelani Was Eyeing Power with Congress
News 18WBarring support to the Independent candidate Shamim Ahmad Shamim only to ensure defeat of the Congress-backed Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad in the 1971 Lok Sabha election in Srinagar, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah called for boycott of all elections held by the Indian authorities in Jammu and Kashmir. In the same year’s Lok Sabha elections, Congress swept all the 6 seats including Anantnag where Mohammad Shafi Qureshi was declared elected unopposed. Geelani and Congress As Congress in J&K developed factionalism between Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq’s and Syed Mir Qasim’s groups, Jamaat-e-Islami discovered an opportunity to align with one group and steal some seats in the Assembly. In the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, JeI fielded none other than its 42-year-old firebrand leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who lost to the Congress candidate Syed Ahmad Agha in Baramulla. When, post-Emergency, Indira Gandhi’s Congress lost the Lok Sabha elections to Janata Party and Morarji Desai took over as Prime Minister on March 24, 1977, Congress in J&K withdrew support from Sheikh’s government on March 26, 1977.
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Syed Ali Shah Geelani — the hawk fades into the sunset
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