Several claims are being made regarding the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Jammu Kashmir, one of them being that it was the first time that a candidate from outside Jammu Kashmir was contesting Lok Sabha polls in the region.
Several media outlets carried the news item, many of them attributed it to abrogation of Article 370 stating that the abrogation enabled people from outside the region to contest Lok sabha polls.
It is being reported that Baldev Kumar, a resident of Punjab is the first non resident of Jammu Kashmir to contest from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.
However, upon cross verification, The Kashmiriyat found that the claims being widely circulated are false.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shams Khwaja, a resident of Delhi filed nomination papers from Anantnag constituency, several months before the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Experts told The Kashmiriyat that there existed no restriction on non residents contesting in Jammu Kashmir for Lok Sabha seats. However, eligibility for assembly elections was limited to erstwhile state subjects.
Khwaja, a law graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia, faced objections to his candidacy, yet election authorities dismissed these objections, paving the way for him to become the first non-resident to vie for election in Jammu and Kashmir.
His election symbol, a green chilli, was marked with controversy. He secured 760 votes.