Jammu and Kashmir has six Lok Sabha seats. (File Photo)
Highlights
- Congress proposed alliance with National Conference in J&K: Omar Abdullah
- Only NC candidates to be there on the 3 seats in Kashmir Valley, he said
- National Conference and Congress had drawn a blank in 2014 general polls
National Conference chief Omar Abdullah today said his party has received a proposal for alliance in Jammu and Kashmir from the Congress for the coming Lok Sabha polls. "We have told them clearly that only National Conference candidates will be there on the three seats in the Kashmir Valley," he was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
Jammu and Kashmir has six Lok Sabha seats. Mr Abdullah's system would leave three seats for the Congress - two of them in Hindu-majority Jammu and one in Ladakh.
"If it suits them (Congress), then we can talk about other seats. Let's see what response we receive," Mr Abdullah has said.
In the 2014 general elections, the six seats in the state were split equally between the BJP and Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party. The National Conference and the Congress, which jointly ruled the state, drew a blank.
Farooq Abdullah, NC patriarch and the father of Omar Abdullah, lost the election from Karra and Congress's Ghulam Nabi Azad lost from Jammu.
Late that year, Mr Abdullah's government in the state was voted out, the verdict was split between the BJP and the PDP. Despite their disparate ideologies, the two parties tied up to form an alliance, which fell apart in June last year.
The Congress has been facing criticism over its handling of alliances in other states. While its seat share has been finalised in Karnataka, the talks in Maharashtra and Bihar are lagging.
Today, indicating that the talks are not going well, Bihar leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted what was seen as a warning. "If one does not shed arrogance just for the sake of a few seats, then people who still believe in the constitution won't forgive it," he tweeted.