Srinagar (TIP)- National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday, August 22, said that his party has finalised an alliance with the Congress for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu & Kashmir, and added that they were open to also bringing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on board after the elections, indicating the possibility of the three INDIA bloc members coming together in the Union territory’s political arena.
The former J&K chief minister made the announcement hours after Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge met him and his son, NC vice president Omar Abdullah, in Srinagar.
“We had a good meeting in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track, and it will run smoothly. The alliance is final, and it will be for all 90 seats. Our common program is to fight together and defeat the divisive forces in the country,” Abdullah said, and added that the two parties will soon formalise a seat-sharing pact.
The first assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir in a decade will be held in three phases on September 18 and 25, and October 1. They will be the first assembly polls in the restive region since its special status and statehood were scrapped five years ago and are likely to be the last step before the Union territory’s statehood is restored. “Statehood is very important for all of us. This has been promised to us. This state has witnessed bad days, and we hope it will be restored with its full powers. For that, we stand together with the INDIA bloc,” Abdullah said, adding that former MLA and CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami also extended support to them. Congress general secretary and former president of J&K unit Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the two parties took different factors into consideration before sealing the alliance: “We resolved almost all hurdles and both the parties even agreed to some sacrifices for the sake of a fruitful coalition.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Congress leader said: “The NC will likely get around 50 seats and the Congress between 35-38 seats. Some allies will also be accommodated.”
The NC and Congress formed a post-poll alliance in 2008, with Omar Abdullah leading the coalition government as the chief minister. The two parties did not tie-up for the 2014 polls and contested all seats separately. Source: HT