SRINAGAR: Separatist leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Independent Movement, Bilal Gani Lone, is likely to switch to mainstream politics, sources said.
Bilal Gani Lone is the son of veteran separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone who was killed at Eidgah in Srinagar. People aware of the matter said that Lone will formally join active electoral politics in the coming days.
“His father was a three-time MLA before joining the separatist ranks. So, if he is joining mainstream politics he will reclaim that legacy and can make a bigger and visible impact, especially at a time when elections are about to happen,” a political analyst observed.
Reports suggested that Lone will soon part ways with Hurriyat Conference as he has firmly decided to fight the upcoming Assembly Elections from his ancestral “strongly held” North Kashmir.
“Bilal Lone’s joining of mainstream politics will be a colossal development as it will be the second major exodus of any Hurriyat leader after his brother Sajad Lone bid farewell to the separatist politics”, political analysts on the basis of anonymity, told a local media house in the Union Territory.
This development gives insight into a huge change in the political dynamics of Kashmir valley where Hurriyat and separatist politics are becoming obsolete and irrelevant with every passing day.
With Bilal Lone’s decision to join mainstream politics, many leaders will also revisit their political affiliation with separatism which shall force them to think about the relevance and ultimate need for shunning the old political factions and integrating with popular politics. (ANI)