SRINAGAR: The Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration and the Congress met on Friday to finalise their candidates for the first-ever District Development Council elections beginning from November 28.
PAGD leaders and J&K Congress vice-president Ghulam Nabi Monga met at the residence of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Sources said the PAGD and Congress leaders discussed the names of the candidates for the seven out of the eight phases as the Alliance has released the list of 27 candidates for the first phase of DDC polls. No Congress candidate figured in this list.
They said the leaders would again be meeting on Saturday to finalise the candidates.
“The meetings are being held simultaneously in Srinagar and Jammu. In Jammu, the leaders have almost finalized the names of the candidates and the list of candidates for Valley and Jammu seats will be released within a day or two,” J&K Congress chief Ghulam Mir said.
The Congress has already clarified that it is not part of the PAGD but only entered into seat sharing agreement with the seven parties’ alliance for the DDC polls.
Mir said they have joined hands with PAGD to stop division of the secular votes and to keep communal forces at bay.
“There will be ‘give and take’ in the alliance to prevent division of secular votes. Had we contested separately, it would have led to division of secular votes and we want to prevent any division of secular votes to divide the communal forces.”
On whether the PAGD and Congress leaders would jointly address the polls rallies, Mir said, “It will not be possible for the alliance leaders to campaign in all 280 seats in J&K.”