Cong,NC close to striking seat sharing deal

Congress is close to striking a seat sharing deal with alliance partner National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Congress is close to striking a seat sharing deal with alliance partner National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir,with Union Water Resource Development Minister and Congress state president Saifudin Soz hinting that the party would leave three parliamentary seats from Kashmir for its coalition partner and is likely to field its candidate from the Ladakh parliamentary seat.

Indicating that the NC would leave the Ladakh seat for Congress,Soz said,”It was my guess that Congress would contest from the Ladakh parliamentary seat and there is no deadlock over it with the National Conference.”

He also rebutted allegations of the BJP that the Congress policies have been against the interests of Jammu for its opposition to delimitation. Soz said that the Congress was committed to the equal rights for all the three regions of the state. “Holding of the fresh delimitation is in the manifesto of Congress,” he said.

Soz also exuded confidence that the party would win both the parliamentary seats from Jammu region. He said party candidates from Udhampur and Jammu region have mass following among the people. Though party candidate from Udhampur Lal Singh lost the recent Assembly elections,Singh has long been associated with the people there and his victory on the parliamentary seat cannot be challenged,Soz said.

“Congress party is in a strong position and we have nothing to worry for the PDP’s Kashmir centric policies and BJP’s Jammu centric approach,” Soz said.

The Congress will face stiff competition from the BJP on the Udhampur and Jammu seats. However the party could gain from the internal rift within the BJP. The BJP,which will field former BJP state president Nirmal Singh from Udhampur,has refused the seat to former defence minister Chaman Lal Gupta’s son,Anil Gupta. Anil has resigned from the membership of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and claims that many of the sitting legislators had supported his candidature from Udhampur.

On the Jammu parliamentary seat,Congress candidate Madan Lal Sharma will face tough opposition from BJP candidate and former convenor of Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti (SASS),Leela Karan Sharma.