Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRI NAGAR: Three young guns from Kashmir—IAS officer Shah Faesal, JNU student leader Shehla Rashid Shora, and Zaffar Mir Lasjan, grandson of a former Congress leader—are likely to enter mainstream politics in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said Shehla Rashid and Lasjan, the grandson of ex-minister Ghulam Mohammad Mir Lasjan, were interested in joining active politics and were in touch with the National Conference (NC) leadership.

They said both Shehla, who comes from a family of NC loyalists and is currently pursuing her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Zaffar, a businessman, had held a series of deliberations with the NC leadership on their joining the oldest political party in the State. Sources in NC said Shehla and Zaffar had been overwhelmed by Omar Abdullah’s leadership and had reposed their faith in it. According to sources, Shehla and Zaffar had given their consent to joining the party, and after the modalities were worked out, they would formally join the NC.

Shehla, who hails from downtown Srinagar and belongs to an NC loyalist family, has participated in many events, including anti-government protests in Kashmir. Srinagar has always been an NC stronghold, and it is expected that Shehla’s joining the party will strengthen its hold in the summer capital. Sources said IAS officer Shah Faesal, who was the topper of the 2011 batch, also might plunge into active politics.

They said he was in contact with NC and Congress leaders and both parties were trying to woo him.

Faesal, the first and only IAS topper from the state, and currently on study leave in the United States, was likely to take a call on plunging into politics after returning to the state. They said he might not join politics immediately.

IAS officer had recently courted controversy

Shah Faesal, 35, was recently served a show cause notice by the government after criticising government policies on social media. “Losing my job is a small risk for the debate I am trying to have,” Faesal had tweeted after being served the notice.