The Congress and the J&K National Conference (NC) have sealed an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid announced on Monday.
At a joint press conference, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah disclosed the distribution of seats, with Congress contesting in Udhampur, Jammu, and Ladakh, while National Conference would field candidates in Anantnag, Srinagar, and Baramulla.
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Abdullah said, “I am happy to formally announce that the National Conference and Congress will contest the six seats of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh together. The National Conference candidates will contest from three seats.”
“National Conference and Congress will each contest 3 Lok Sabha seats in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh...Chaudhary Lal Singh to contest from Udhampur, Raman Bhalla to contest from Jammu & Mian Altaf Sahib to contest from Anantnag. The candidates for the remaining seats will be announced soon,” he added.
On PDP being left out from seat sharing, he says, "In a state or in a region where we had a maximum of six seats of which three seats were already held by the National Conference. The space for political give & take was very limited. But the National Conference & Congress had made it clear that we would keep an option open for sharing seats in assembly elections."
Member of the Congress seat sharing committee Salman Khurshid was also present during the joint press conference. When asked whether PDP was still a part of the INDIA bloc, Khurshid said, "PDP is in our alliance. Seat adjustment is one part of the alliance and an overall alliance is a different issue. Since Jammu and Kashmir is small in area, there is not much scope for seat adjustment despite our best efforts."
The PDP, meanwhile, has nominated candidates for three seats in Kashmir, including Mehbooba Mufti contesting against DPAP president Ghulam Nabi Azad in Anantnag. Khurshid clarified, "The National Conference already has three Lok Sabha MPs, and we have decided to give them a chance." Regarding Omar Abdullah's potential candidacy, Khurshid noted that any decision would prompt another press conference in Srinagar.