Srinagar: Amid the election fervour in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress and National Conference are holding meetings for a pre-poll alliance and the parties are likely to seal the alliance soon even as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are arriving in Kashmir Wednesday evening.
Both the parties which contested the parliament elections in an alliance against the BJP have formed committees which have held two rounds of discussions to stitch an alliance. The Congress committee includes present PCC president Tariq Hameed Karra, former PCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, former PCC president Viqar Rasool, former minister and working presidents Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla.
The National Conference representatives include provincial president Kashmir Nasir Aslam Wani, provincial president Jammu Rattan Lal Gupta, former minister Sakina Itoo, former MLA Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy and former minister Ajay Sadhotra.
NC provincial president Jammu Rattan Lal Gupta said the committees have held two rounds of deliberations so far. "Today, we are holding the third round of the meeting. So far the meetings have been held in an amicable atmosphere. We are hopeful that the two parties will settle for amicable seat arrangements," Gupta told ETV Bharat.
An NC leader who is a member of the committee that the discussions are being held over all the 90 assembly segments. "The main point of the discussion is the winnability of the party and candidates. Out of the 90, NC stands strong in the majority of the seats. So, we may take the majority of the seats in Kashmir and share seats in Jammu region," the leader told ETV Bharat but didn't want to be named.
Congress sources said that the committee has given a set of factors for forming the alliance which include potential winnability of the seat of the party, voter percentage of the party on a seat in recent parliament elections, DDCs elections and in the 2014 assembly elections.
"We have given these suggestions and put the figures, present situation and the recent parliament election situation of the parties before the committee. Let's see how the NC taken them up and responds to it," Congress sources told ETV Bharat.
Congress leader and member of the committee Ghulam Ahmad Mir told ETV Bharat that the deliberations are going on in a cordial manner and hopefully the pre-poll alliance will be formed between the two parties.
Mir said for the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir both the parties have to agree on "give and take" so that the communal parties are kept out of the government. Sources said that the bone of contention between the two parties in the Kashmir valley are seats where Congress is demanding four including Devsar, Dooru, Shalteng and Sopore. While the NC is ready to give major seats to Congress in Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Samba where the party has witnessed several leaders joining the BJP after the abrogation of Article 370.
Sources said that Congress's new president Tariq Hammed Kara is keen on contesting from Shalteng seat in Srinagar city but the NC is not agreeing to leave the seat out of its kitty. "NC has agreed to give Dooru and Devsar to Congress in the alliance in Kashmir," sources said.
In Rajouri and Poonch, both parties have issues on some seats including Surankote where Shahnawaz Choudhary of Congress and Akram Choudhary, former Congress MLA who joined NC during parliament elections are strong contenders. In Banihal, Vikar Rasool of Congress and Sajad Shaheen are strong candidates but in 2014 the seat was won by Vikar Rasool.
However, Gupta of NC said that the committee have held discussions on all "aspects and seats". "In a day or two, the alliance will be finalised," he said. Meanwhile, Nasir Aslam Wani said that CPI(M) leader Yousuf Tarigami is also on board for the alliance on the Kulgam seat. Tarigami is a three-time winner from Kulgam assembly segment. Sources said that Rahul Gandhi and Kharge are likely meeting NC leadership, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah during their visit to finalise the alliance.
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