The ruling alliance partners in the J&K Government -- the National Conference and the Congress -- have decided to forge alliance for the six parliamentary seats in the state and the two parties will contest three seats each.
“A high-level meeting of the Congress, held under the chairmanship of party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, decided this on Friday. Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress committee chief Saifuddin Soz, Congress general secretary in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir affairs Ambika Soni, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and other top leaders attended the meeting,” a senior Congress leader said.
The Congress leader said, after Sonia’s nod, the party has decided to forge pre-poll alliance with the National Conference (NC) for Parliamentary polls.
“The Congress will field candidates for two constituencies of Jammu and one in Ladakh, while the National Conference will contest in all the three seats in the Valley,” he said.
The NC has already announced its candidates for three parliamentary seats in Kashmir. The party has given mandate to all the sitting MPs from the Valley. NC president and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah will be contesting from Srinagar-Budgam seats, Mehboob Beg from Pulwama-Anantnag in South Kashmir and Sharif-ud-Din Shariq from North Kashmir’s Kupwara-Baramulla seat.
“The NC leaders will campaign in Jammu and Ladakh in favour of our candidates and similarly, the Congress leaders will campaign in Kashmir in support of NC candidates,” he said.
“The party will announce candidates for 3 LS seats in a few days. It will be decided whether to retain sitting MPs or give the chance to new faces,” the Congress leader said. By forging pre-poll alliance with the NC, the Congress high command has gone against the wishes and aspirations of its party workers and leaders in J&K.