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National Conference, Congress to fight J&K elections in alliance: Farooq
Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called on the National Conference leadership in Srinagar on Thursday.
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday announced that his party would ally with the Congress to fight in all 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir that go to the polls in three phases from September 18.
Announcing the tie-up after talks with the Congress leadership in Srinagar, Farooq said: “The common programme for the NC-Congress alliance is aimed at defeating divisive forces in country.”
Earlier, Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called on Farooq and NC vice-president Omar Abdullah at their Gupkar Road residence.
A Congress leader said the two parties have been holding deliberations at the local level for the alliance.
According to an NC leader, the parties have had three rounds of discussions over the shape of the alliance and seat-sharing between them.
The two parties had contested the Lok Sabha elections together as part of the INDIA bloc with the Congress losing both the seats in Jammu, while the NC lost one of the three it contested in the Kashmir Valley.
Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 4.
