The ruling National Conference (NC) in Jammu & Kashmir has kept its options open to enter into a pre-poll alliance with a hesitant Congress that aims to go alone in the upcoming Assembly elections due in October-November.
The NC issued first list of its 31 candidates from Kashmir and Jammu provinces and one candidate from ladakh’s Nubra constituency. The list does not include three constituencies of Kashmir —Kokernag, Dooru and Uri — where Congress has firm sway leading to speculations that the NC is waiting for the Congress’ nod to forge a pre-poll alliance against the Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Most of the candidates are sitting legislators who have won the previous elections. Even the candidates who tasted defeat in the last election, like Muhammad Ashraf Bhat of Tral, have been re-nominated. The party has not introduced fresh candidates for the upcoming polls. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is also indecisive on his constituency.
The party insiders say that he is keen to shift from his pocket borough of Ganderbal to try his luck from Sonwar or Habba Kadal constituency of capital Srinagar.
The PDP was the first political party to finalise its candidates for the Assembly polls. The party began issuing lists of its candidates shortly after it posted a massive triumph by sweeping all three parliamentary seats in the general elections in May. The PDP is cashing in on the anti-coalition wave that forced the six candidates of the NC-Congress alliance to bite the dust. The other three seats were bagged by BJP candidates in Jammu and ladakh. The BJP is also hoping to translate the general election wave and the formation of Narendra Modi Government at the Centre, to play a major role in Government formation in the embattled State.
The NC’s maiden list of 32 candidates was finalised by the party’s Parliamentary Board after three-hour deliberation, a party spokesman said.
The party was under tremendous pressure to issue the list of candidates in order to kick-start campaigning for the polls. However, the party leadership was waiting for the Congress leadership to decide on pre-poll alliance. Even as the Congress and NC fought the 2008 elections separately before forming a coalition, they fought together two subsequent parliamentary elections in 2009 and 2014. The pre-poll alliances were mainly decided by Gandhis and Abdullahs even as most of the local leadership voiced resentment against the alliance. Observers say that the party leaders overtly and covertly worked against the alliance in the recent elections resulting into an unprecedented whitewash.
Sources said that influential leaders in both the parties are opposing the pre-poll alliance but NC president Farooq Abdullah and Working president Omar Abdullah want to enter the poll fray along-with the Congress.JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz, who was uncomfortable with the NC, has several times voiced his concern against any alliance with the party. Soz say that he has conveyed the “resentment of party workers” against the NC to the party high command.
The PDP has not shown willingness to enter into any pre-poll or post-poll alliance with any political group. The party leadership believes that it would gain enough strength to form the next Government in Jammu & Kashmir. The NC leaders say that they would devise an effective strategy to return to power and dash the dreams of the opposition party.