J&K polls: NC seals alliance with Congress to contest in all 90 Assembly seats

The Congress has sealed an alliance with the National Conference (NC) to contest in all the 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir in the upcoming polls, NC president Farooq Adbullah said on Thursday (August 22).

The announcement came after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called on the National Conference leadership at Abdullah's residence.

Alliance on track: Abdullah

"We had a good meeting, in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track and, God willing, it will run smoothly. The alliance is final. It will be signed this evening and the alliance is on all 90 seats," Abdullah told reporters.

The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 4.

“CPI(M)'s (MY) Tarigami is also with us. I hope our people are with us too and that we win with a huge majority to improve the lives of the people," Abdullah added.

Abdullah on statehood restoration

Asked about Rahul’s assurance earlier in the day that it was the priority of the Congress and the INDIA bloc to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah expressed hope that full statehood with all powers would be restored.

"Statehood is very important for all of us. This has been promised to us. This state has witnessed bad days and we hope it will be restored with its full powers. For that, we stand together with the INDIA bloc," he said.

No common minimum programme

Questioned if the two parties had agreed to any common minimum programme, the NC president said there was no question of a common minimum programme.

"Our common programme is to fight the elections to defeat the divisive forces that exist in the country," he said.

Possible alliance with PDP

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state also did not rule out the presence of the Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party in a pre or post-poll alliance.

"Let us first go through the polls, then we will look into those things," Abdullah said. "No doors are closed for anybody."

When questioned on the seat-sharing arrangement, he said, "Everything will come out before the first phase.”

Abdullah also refused to answer if he would contest the elections.

The former Union minister said he was very happy that the meeting with the Congress leadership was held in a cordial atmosphere.

"To tell you honestly, my heart is very happy today because the way we attempted to make this country stronger in a cordial atmosphere," Abdullah added.

(With inputs from agencies)