The Congress has been relegated from a junior partner in the incoming Jammu and Kashmir government to a relative non-entity, after four independent MLAs extended support to the National Conference, the 'big brother' in the alliance that won this week's election.
Pyare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Choudhary Mohammed Akram, and Dr Rameshwar Singh - who won the Inderwal, Chhamb, Surankote, and Bani seats - have backed the NC.