Early Times Report
Jammu, July 31: Stunned over the “non-cooperative” response of the National Conference towards efforts to formulate a joint front of opposition parties against the BJP, the Congress has also started preparations to contest elections on all the 90 assembly seats in the coming elections.
Highly placed sources said after the suggestion of the J&K unit, the central leadership of the Congress has also allowed the local leadership to start the process of setting up panels of potential candidates for all 90 assembly seats.
“Unlike Lok Sabha elections when the party had left three out of a total of five Lok Sabha seats for the National Conference, this time party would contest on the majority of the seat”, a senior Congress leader told the Early Times.
Wishing anonymity, the Congress leader said that after the formation of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, the attitude of the National Conference leaders has changed.
“Instead of encouraging the initiative of opposition unity in Jam Congress has also started preparations to contest elections on all the 90 assembly seats in the coming elections.
In Lok Sabha elections out of five seats Congress had left three for NC.
After the formation of the NDA government at the Centre, the attitude of the NC leaders towards the INDIA bloc has changed.
NC leadership is trying to give an impression that there is no need of any other party for the assembly polls.
Sources said that instead of banking on the support of the National Conference for the assembly polls, J&K Congress leaders are more interested in entering into seat adjustment arrangements with the PDP in some pockets of Kashmir Valley.
As reported earlier, the scheduled meeting of the opposition parties on August 7 at Jammu was postponed due to the inability of the former Chief Minister and president of the National Conference Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Although the leader of the CPI(M) MY Tarigami informed that date of the meeting was fixed after consultations with Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the very next day the meeting was postponed indefinitely due to the non-availability of the National Conference chief. | 