Srinagar|Aug, 26: After hectic parleya the National Conference and Congress here on Monday finalized pre-poll seat-sharing arrangements for all the 90 seats for the upcoming J&K Assembly.
As per the agreement reached between the two parties, the NC will fight on 51 and Congress on 32 seats.
There were severe differences over some seats between the two parties and with only one day left for filing the nomination papers for the first phase, the Congress rushed two veterans- former Union minister Salman Khurshid and party General Secretary organisation KC Venugopal- to finalise the seat-sharing plan with NC.
“ During the talks, both parties understood each other’s sensitivities, and the deliberations were held cordially. Some contentious constituencies were reviewed and finally, we reached an agreement over vote sharing,” J&K Congress President Tariq Karra told reporters in Srinagar.
Karra was flanked by NC President Farooq Abdullah and Venugopal during the briefing.
“ As per the agreement, out of 90 seats, NC will fight on 51 seats, INC on 32 seats and we have agreed on a friendly contest in five seats in a disciplined way. We have left one seat each for CPI(M) and Panthers Party,” Karra said. Congress leader K C Venugopal said that BJP has no moral right to raise questions over the alliance between them and NC.
“ BJP had an alliance with NC earlier. They had an alliance with the PDP too. The same old National Conference is still here. The same old PDP is still PDP. They had an alliance with both parties. Every political party has its programme and manifesto. We have our manifesto and when we are forming a government, there will be a common minimum programme,” Venugopal said.
He said BJP has already cheated the people of J&K.
“ BJP is trying to destroy the soul of Jammu and Kashmir and the INDIA alliance’s main objective is to save the soul of Jammu and Kashmir. So that is why Congress and National Conference have come together to make a government in Jammu & Kashmir which is friendly with the people of J&K,” Venugopal said. NC President Farooq Abdullah said the negotiations between the Congress and the National Conference concluded successfully. “ We are happy that we have decided to contest the upcoming assembly elections jointly, with complete coordination and cooperation,” Abdullah said.
