Now NC uses spiritual leaders to woo voters 
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, November 20
After the PDP used the services of pirs and faqirs for wooing the voters, it is its bette noire National Conference now which is following the suit.
Spiritual leader Mian Bashir Ahmed Larvi, who holds a good influence among the Gujjar and Bakkarwal (nomads) voters, comprising one of the main chunk of the voters, urged the voters to vote for the NC for their better future. Gujjars and Bakkarwals comprise roughly 38 per cent voters in this constituency.
Larvi, at a rally organised by the NC here today, said: “You consider me your pir (spiritual leader), so as your spiritual leader, I am telling you that you must vote for the National Conference. I assure you that the new government, which is going to be that of the NC, will do justice to you.”
Touching the religious note, he reminded the people that it was Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah who constructed the Hazratbal shrine, where the holy relic (Mo-e-Muqaddas) was placed.
Striking emotional chord with the locals, who have great love and reverence for the shrine of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah (Shahdara Sharief), Mian Sahab, as he is popularly called by his followers, said the shrine was also constructed during the NC regime.
“You must elect the NC candidate (Muhammad Aslam Khan). If you elect him, we can catch him if he does something against your interest,” Mian Bashir told a gathering of about 1,000 persons.
One of the Gujjars who attended the public meeting, Choudhary Nissar, told The Tribune that “Mian Sahab’s words are taken seriously by the Gujjar community. Since he asked us to vote for the NC, we will respect whatever he said, and will vote accordingly.”
Clarifying that Mian Bashir was not only a spiritual or a religious leader, Farooq Abdullah said: “He (Mian Bashir) is a political leader and has been an MLA and minister in my father’s government. He is a community leader (of the Gujjar community) also.”
More than a week back, Mehbooba Mufti had used the services of spiritual leader Baji Mussafar Hussain Shah to woo the voters in predominantly rural and backward constituency of Kalakote.