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Congress, INDIA ally National Conference announce seat sharing pact for J&K polls
The Congress and National Conference on Monday announced the seat sharing arrangement for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
The Congress and INDIA bloc ally National Conference on Monday announced the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
“National Conference will contest on 51 seats, Congress on 32 and we have agreed to have a friendly but disciplined contest on 5 seats. Over and above these 88 seats, we have left 1 seat for CPI (M) and 1 seat for Panthers Party,” J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra said in a briefing.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal further said,"BJP is trying to destroy the soul of Jammu and Kashmir our INDIA alliance's main objective is to save the soul of Jammu and Kashmir so that is why Congress and National Conference is coming together to make a government in Jammu & Kashmir which is totally friendly with the people of J&K."
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“We have done a discussion in accordance and we entered into a formula which our leaders will share now. We will fight together, we will win J&K. We will form the government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said,"It is a matter of great happiness that we started this campaign that both of us will fight together against those forces who are trying to divide people here."
“The whole country and INDIA alliance was formed so that we can fight those forces who want to communalize, divide and break the country. Today we have completed the negotiations and have done coordination in a very good codial atmosphere. Congress and the National Conference will fight the elections together,” ANI quoted the former J&K chief minister as saying.
Cong-NC alliance shared power between 2008 and 2014
The ties between the NC and Congress have witnessed ups and downs since the 1940s and 50s. The two parties ran a coalition government between 2008 and 2014 under Omar Abdullah. In the 2008 assembly elections, the NC had won 28 seats while the Congress bagged 17 seats.
The two parties had contested the 2014 assembly elections after ending their alliance. However, the Congress supported NC in 2017 for the Srinagar Lok Sabha bypolls which Farooq Abdullah won.
On August 22, both the parties had announced a pre-poll alliance for all 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir that will go to polls in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 4. This is the first assembly election in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370.
