Lok Sabha polls: INDIA bloc allies Congress and National Conference (NC) on Monday announced their decision to jointly contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024. Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Salman Khurshid with Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah announced the seat sharing agreement for the five constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir and one constituency of Ladakh.
The National Conference will contest in Anantnag, Srinagar, and Baramulla, while the Congress will field candidates in Udhampur, Jammu, and Ladakh.
The announcement comes a day after Mehbooba Mufti‘s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president named her party’s candidates for three seats of the Kashmir Valley, signalling a breakdown of seat-sharing talks with the INDIA bloc partners.
Asked about seat-sharing talks not succeeding with the PDP, the Congress‘ national alliance committee member Khurshid said the Mehbooba Mufti-led party is very much part of the INDIA bloc but seat-sharing with it could not be worked out.
On whether the Congress-NC alliance would be there for the assembly polls also, Abdullah said their focus right now was on succeeding in the Lok Sabha polls.
He said holding assembly polls has been virtually decided with the remarks of the Chief Election Commissioner and that of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the poll process would be completed before the Supreme Court-mandated date of September 30.
He exuded confidence that the situation was in the favour of the INDIA bloc in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and the opposition alliance would win all six seats.
Abdullah also dismissed Prime Minister Modi’s claim of the BJP winning 370 seats and NDA 400 in the Lok Sabha polls, saying it shows that he is “rattled”.
The PDP has named candidates for three seats in Kashmir, fielding Mehbooba Mufti against Ghulam Nabi Azad in Anantnag. The Congress has named Lal Singh as its candidate from Udhampur to take on Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
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Published: 08 Apr 2024, 08:14 PM IST