Congress, NC finalise seat sharing in J&K & Ladakh for Lok Sabha polls

SRINAGAR — The Congress and the National Conference (NC) on Monday finalised a seat-sharing agreement for Lok Sabha elections in J&K & Ladakh.

As per the terms of the alliance, each party will field three candidates each in J&K and Ladakh.

NC Vice President, Omar Abdullah said the Congress would contest the Udhampur, Jammu, and Ladakh Lok Sabha seats while the NC would field candidates in Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar, and Baramulla.

“I want to formally announce that the National Conference and Congress will jointly contest the elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with three candidates for each of the two parties. The NC will support Congress candidates in Udhampur, Jammu and Ladakh seats. The INDIA bloc will contest the polls to help fulfil the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and truly represent them in Parliament,” he said.

The seat-sharing agreement was finalised after consultations between the Congress and NC leaders.

Congress seat-sharing committee member Salman Khurshid was also present during the joint press conference held in Delhi.

Asked whether the 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 has fielded its chief Mehbooba Mufti against the NC’s Mian Altaf Ahmad in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Khurshid said: “The National Conference already has three Lok Sabha MPs and we have decided to give them a chance.”