The images of National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah standing on a shikara in the Dal Lake and holding the party flag on Sunday (September 22, 2024) may have looked like a scene from a Bollywood movie, but in reality, the party is looking at a do-or-die situation in Srinagar district, which has eight Assembly segments and is the party’s ideological citadel. 

The poll calculus of the NC, which is aiming to win the maximum number of seats in the 90-member Assembly with the help of ally Congress, depends on Srinagar. The summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir has remained in the throes of militancy and still finds resonance of boycott politics in several pockets. However, the NC sees a change in the situation this time. 

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