National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said his party will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on its own, even as his son and party vice president Omar Abdullah later said they will continue to be a part of the 27-party Opposition bloc, which is facing desertions and tough seat-sharing negotiations among its allies.
Addressing a press conference, Srinagar Lok Sabha MP Farooq said the general and assembly elections might be held together in Jammu & Kashmir. “As far as seat sharing is concerned, I want to make it clear that the National Conference will contest elections on its own. There are no two views about it,” he said.
The former J&K chief minister’s comments came days after the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) suffered setbacks following Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar’s decision to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in January ruled out alliances with the Congress in their states for the coming Lok Sabha elections, jeopardising not just the prospects of the INDIA bloc, but also threatening its utility.
On Tuesday, the AAP said it wants to contest six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and is ready to give one seat to the Congress as part of alliance dharma, adding that the INDIA bloc partner didn’t deserve to contest any constituency in the Capital based on its recent poll performances.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, the AAP said it wants to contest six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and is ready to give one seat to the Congress as part of alliance dharma, adding that the INDIA bloc partner didn’t deserve to contest any constituency in the Capital based on its recent poll performances.
{{/usCountry}}Hours after Farooq’s statement, Omar said they were open to holding seat-sharing talks for constituencies that are currently with the BJP. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won three of the region’s six seats and the NC remaining three.
“NC has made no secrets about the fact that they would rather fight elections on all seats, but the truth is that sometimes for a bigger objective, small sacrifices have to be made. If the bigger objective is to win seats back from the BJP...then if it is necessary for NC to enter into seat sharing with Congress, our doors are open,” he said.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the NC will remain a part of the Opposition bloc. “Talks are going on. Every party has their own limitations. NC and PDP have been a part of the INDIA bloc, and will continue to remain so,” he said.