Arjumand Shah
Srinagar, August 23 (KINS): In the alliance for the upcoming Assembly elections, the National Conference (NC) is pushing to contest more seats than the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir is gearing up for its long-awaited Assembly elections, the first since the region became a Union Territory in 2019, and the first in a decade. The elections for the 90 seats will be held in three phases: September 18, 25, and October 1, with vote counting scheduled for October 4.
On Thursday, top Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge met NC’s Farooq Abdullah at his residence to finalize the pre-poll alliance. Omar Abdullah, Farooq’s son, was also present at the meeting. Following the discussions, Farooq Abdullah announced that leaders of both parties have decided to form an alliance for the upcoming polls.
However, there is still disagreement over some seats.
NC leader Omar Abdullah said, “On some seats, both parties are stuck. However, a meeting will be held again today to discuss the issue and finalize the alliance.”
He added that the alliance partners are adamant about certain seats and that further meetings would aim to resolve these impasses to finalize the candidate lists, which are expected to be publicized before August 27. “On a few seats, we are adamant, and on some others, the local leaders of the Congress are adamant. There will be meetings today as well, and we will try to sort out the remaining seats so that we can announce our candidates,” he stated.
He said that the NC and Congress have reached a consensus on the majority of the 90 Assembly seats. However, discussions are ongoing for the remaining constituencies. “Consensus has been reached to a large extent. I can tell you that we have reached a consensus on the majority of seats out of the 90,” he said.
A senior Congress leader told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that the National Conference wants to contest more seats than Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.
“The Congress wants an equal share of mandates. We want to field our candidates in at least 10 seats in Kashmir. If this situation persists, there is a possibility of a friendly contest between these two parties,” the leader added.
Meanwhile as per the reports the joint committee of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and Indian National Congress (INC) has concluded the seat-sharing arrangement for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Assembly elections.
The committee’s marathon session, has outlined a clear division of seats between the two major parties. “According to the agreement, the Congress party will retain the seats it secured in the previous elections. Specifically, Congress is set to contest the constituencies of Dooru, Kokernag, Shangas, and Devsar in Kashmir, as well as Banihal, Inderwal (Padar-Nagseni), and Doda in Jammu, totaling 24 seats. The National Conference (NC) will focus on 17 seats, leaving 6 for Congress and reserving Kulgam for CPM’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami,” the reports said.
However sources said that the final arrangements for seats in Phase-2 and Phase-3 remain undecided. (KINS)
Alliance in Assembly polls: ‘NC wants to contest more seats than Congress’
