The Congress and the National Conference (NC) have successfully finalized an agreement to share the 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) ahead of the upcoming election. Senior leaders from both parties announced the deal on Monday evening, just hours before the deadline for filing nominations for the first phase.
NC will contest 51 seats, Cong will contest 32
Under the agreement, the National Conference (NC) will contest 51 seats, while the Congress will contest 32. Additionally, two seats have been allocated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Panthers Party.
Notably, there will be a "friendly but disciplined contest" on five seats, indicating that some differences between the two parties remain unresolved despite last-minute efforts to finalize the arrangement.
This election will be the first Assembly election in J&K in a decade. The previous election, scheduled for 2019, was not held after the central government revoked Articles 370 and 35A, which granted special status to J&K, and bifurcated the state into two union territories.
Farooq Abdullah expresses satisfaction
The announcement of the seat-sharing agreement was met with optimism by both parties. National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah expressed satisfaction, stating, "It is a matter of great happiness... we started this campaign together against forces trying to divide people here. The INDIA bloc was formed so we can fight forces that want to communalize, divide, and break the country."
We will fight together: Venugopal
Congress leader KC Venugopal, one of the senior leaders sent to Srinagar to finalize the deal, echoed Abdullah's sentiments. "We have completed our discussion and reached a formula... we will fight together, and we will win the J&K election. The Congress and National Conference are coming together to form the next government," Venugopal declared, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "trying to destroy the soul of J&K."
The possibility of a pre-poll alliance between the Congress and NC had been anticipated for some time, particularly after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to Farooq Abdullah's home in Srinagar. This marks the first time since 1987 that the two parties have entered into a pre-poll alliance in J&K.
Farooq Abdullah had hinted at the alliance's formation earlier, stating, "We had a good meeting, in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track, and god willing, it will go smoothly. The alliance is final. It will be signed this evening, and the alliance is on all 90 seats."
NC leader Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah's son and also a former Chief Minister, had similarly indicated that an agreement had been reached. "Consensus has been reached to a large extent... I can tell you we have reached a consensus on the maximum seats out of the 90," he said.
Cong dispatched Venugopal and Salman Khurshid to Srinagar
However, when negotiations appeared to be stalling, Congress dispatched Venugopal and senior leader Salman Khurshid to Srinagar to ensure the talks remained on track. The two leaders met with Omar Abdullah on Monday morning, helping to finalize the agreement.
In a significant development, Omar Abdullah, who had previously stated that he would not contest a J&K election while it remained a union territory, announced that he would run for the Ganderbal seat. Omar Abdullah won this seat in 2008, and his father held it for three consecutive terms between 1983 and 1996.
Sharp criticism from the BJP
The confirmation of the Congress-NC alliance has drawn sharp criticism from the BJP. Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently posed ten questions to the Congress and accused the party of "playing with the unity and security of the country in its greed for power." He further charged the Congress with "putting itself before the country" in its pursuit of electoral success.
This alliance sets the stage for a highly anticipated and closely watched election in Jammu and Kashmir, as it marks the first significant electoral contest in the region since the abrogation of its special status.
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