Farooq Abdullah Confirms Pre-Poll Alliance With Congress On All 90 Assembly Seats In J&K

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday (August 22) said his party’s alliance with the Congress is final on all 90 seats for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, which be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1.

Abdullah said the pre-poll alliance with the Congress will be signed in the evening in the presence of leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who earlier called on the National Conference leadership at his residence. He also did not rule out the presence of the Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in a pre- or post-poll alliance.

“We had a good meeting, in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track and, God willing, it will run smoothly. The alliance is final. It will be signed this evening and the alliance is on all 90 seats,” he said about the meeting with the Congress leaders, adding that the CPI(M)’s MY Tarigami is also a part of the alliance.

Asked about Gandhi’s assurance earlier in the day that it was the priority of the Congress and the INDIA bloc to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, he said he is hopeful that full statehood with all powers will be restored.

“Statehood is very important for all of us. This has been promised to us. This state has witnessed bad days and we hope it will be restored with its full powers. For that, we stand together with the INDIA bloc,” he added.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said there is no question of a common minimum programme. “Our common programme is to fight the elections to defeat the divisive forces that exist in the country,” he said.

About an alliance with the PDP, he said: “Let us first go through the polls, then we will look into those things,” he said. “No doors are closed for anybody.”

Questioned about the seat-sharing arrangement during the elections, Abdullah sought patience. “Everything will come out before the first phase,” he said.

He also refused to answer if he will contest the polls. He said he was happy that the meeting with the Congress leadership was held in a cordial atmosphere. “To tell you honestly, my heart is very happy today because the way we attempted to make this country stronger in a cordial atmosphere,” he added.