Assembly polls: NC to finalise list of candidates soon
NC has almost finalised its manifesto and now the party will be finalising names of its candidates who could be party candidates for the next assembly elections from various constituencies. The National Conference hasn’t made it clear yet whether to contest assembly polls alone or go with its alliance partners from the India bloc.
As the team of the Election Commission of India will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir this week, the National Conference will be finalising the list of its party candidates for assembly polls in the coming days.
The National Conference has almost finalised its manifesto and now the party will be finalising names of its candidates who could be party candidates for the next assembly elections from various constituencies. The National Conference hasn’t made it clear yet whether to contest assembly polls alone or go with its alliance partners from the India bloc. In the last Lok Sabha polls in which the NC managed to win two Lok Sabha seats, Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri, the National Conference was supported by the Congress on three Kashmir seats while the NC supported Congress on two Jammu seats. While the NC managed to win two seats from Kashmir, Congress lost both Lok Sabha seats in Jammu but managed to bring down the winning margin of BJP candidates from the last Lok Sabha polls.
The NC after victory on its two seats has already started making presentations for assembly seats as all the district presidents have been asked to propose the names of three probable candidates from each constituency among which the party will shortlist one candidate. “Yes, we have been asked to submit names of probable candidates from each constituency and the party will shortlist one candidate from the list. This process should get completed within next two weeks,” said a senior party leader who is also a district president.
Another senior NC leader said that from many assembly constituencies the party has already strong winning candidates. “Yes, at many places we have three to four ticket aspirants and leadership will try to award ticket to a candidate who has most winning chance,” he said, adding this time competition will be tough and only the NC is in strong position. “People have high hopes on us, so we want to field strong candidates from each constituency of J&K,” he added.
National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said that party is starting conventions across J&K. “The top leadership will be busy in the process to prepare the cadre for upcoming polls.”
Leadership within the party is divided whether to contest assembly elections alone or in an alliance. “We have two camps within the party and some are of the opinion that party should go solo while many leaders want an alliance with the Congress especially in Jammu. It’s up to the high command to take the final decision whether to contest alone or with an alliance,” said another senior leader.
Congress has already invited leaders of different political parties for talks and wants the regional parties to contest jointly to defeat the communal forces. “We want to put a joint fight to defeat the communal forces. We are hopeful other parties will join hands with Congress to defeat the BJP,” said former Congress J&K president and CWC member Ghulam Ahmad Mir.