The Congress party and its INDIA bloc ally, the National Conference, announced on Monday their seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
“National Conference will contest 51 seats, Congress will run for 32, and we have agreed to a friendly but disciplined contest on 5 seats. Additionally, we have allocated 1 seat for CPI (M) and 1 seat for the Panthers Party,” J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra stated during a briefing.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal commented, “BJP is trying to destroy the soul of Jammu and Kashmir. Our INDIA alliance’s primary goal is to save the soul of Jammu and Kashmir. That is why Congress and National Conference are coming together to form a government in Jammu & Kashmir that is truly aligned with the people’s interests.”
He added, “We have discussed and formulated an agreement that our leaders will now share. We will fight together, win J&K, and form the government.”
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah expressed, “It is a matter of great happiness that we started this campaign, ensuring that both of us will fight together against those forces trying to divide people here.”
“The INDIA alliance was formed to combat forces that seek to communalize, divide, and break the country. Today, we have completed negotiations and coordinated in a very cordial atmosphere. Congress and the National Conference will contest the elections together,” ANI quoted the former J&K chief minister.
The Congress and National Conference have had a fluctuating relationship since the 1940s and 50s but previously shared power from 2008 to 2014 under Omar Abdullah. They ran a coalition government after winning 28 and 17 seats, respectively, in the 2008 assembly elections. The alliance ended before the 2014 assembly elections, but Congress supported the NC in the 2017 Srinagar Lok Sabha bypolls, which Farooq Abdullah won.
On August 22, both parties announced a pre-poll alliance for all 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir, which will go to polls in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, with results to be declared on October 4. This marks the first assembly election in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370.
