Jammu, January 22
The suspense whether the National Conference and the Congress will jointly fight parliamentary elections or not has been lifted with the two parties agreeing to have a pre-poll alliance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

It is a big relief for both the parties that had moved to the brink of breaking up on the issue of setting up of new administrative units in the state. The National Conference and the Congress will campaign jointly for each other in their respective areas of influence.

This is the outcome of the meeting that Chief Minister and working president of the National Conference Omar Abdullah had with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday, informed sources said.

“The issue of the pre-poll alliance for the Assembly elections (scheduled for later this year) is still undecided. If it is announced at this point of time, it would harm the interests of both the parties as there is a fear that many workers would switch loyalties to other parties, notably the BJP and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)”, said a source.

During the Lok Sabha elections, the stakes are not that high. The alliance expects to win all six seats. It will be facing challenge from the BJP in Jammu region and the PDP in the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir has six Lok Sabha seats -- three in the Valley, two in Jammu regions and one in Ladakh. In 2009, the two parties had fought together and won five seats.

The meeting between Omar Abdullah and Sonia Gandhi had come against the backdrop of verbal duel between the NC and the Congress over setting up of new administrative units like sub divisions, tehsils, naibats and blocks and patwar halqas. But the intervention of senior Congress leaders in New Delhi brought about a truce and the two parties have now agreed to accommodate each other’s concerns.