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NC, Cong sever tie-up in J-K Jammu, July 20 The announcement, which is set to change the dynamics of politics in the state, has come at a time when the BJP and the PDP are riding high on their victories in the parliamentary elections. The PDP won all three seats in the Valley, handing down worst-ever defeat to more than 75-year-old NC, while the BJP routed the Congress on two seats in Jammu and one in Ladakh. The NC and the Congress are now shy of repeating the pre-poll alliance in the Assembly elections, hence deciding to go the separate ways in the upcoming elections. Although it was known for months now that the two would not go to the elections as alliance partners, AICC general secretary Ambika Soni announced the breakup formally on Sunday morning when she said: “The Congress has decided to contest all 87 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections.” It was supposed to be a velvet divorce, but it turned out to be a bitter one. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the working president of the NC, told The Tribune that “it was a mutual decision”. He was unhappy that the Congress had made it look like “as if they were walking out of the alliance”. “I had conveyed to Sonia Gandhi when I met her 10 days ago that his party will go it alone in the Assembly elections and she had agreed to that.”The leadership of both sides was under pressure from respective party workers against continuing with the alliance in the Assembly elections. This demand had gained momentum after the NC lost all three seats in the Valley and the Congress lost two in Jammu and one in Ladakh as alliance partners in the parliamentary polls. Soni, who is also in charge of J&K affairs of the party, said: “After detailed deliberations with Congress leaders and workers at all levels, the party has come to the conclusion that we are going to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections on our own strength.” The Congress leader, flanked by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz, said: “We will field candidates on all 87 seats of the state.” In an obvious reference to Democratic Nationalist Party (DNP) leader Ghulam Hassan Mir, CPM leader MY Tarigami and Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) leader Hakim Yaseen, the AICC general secretary said the party would support some of the traditional alliance candidates. The decision to snap ties with the NC comes just after the conclusion of the second feedback convention organised by the Congress. In the first convention held in Srinagar on June 25, party workers had opposed any pre-poll alliance with the NC. The second convention was held in Jammu on Saturday in which workers and leaders cautioned the high command that ties with the NC would prove disastrous for the party in coming elections. The NC, too, had been saying after the debacle in the parliamentary elections that it would not contest the Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. It said the Congress had failed to transfer its votes to the party in Kashmir and the Congress had the same accusation against the NC. The BJP-PDP factor
Will contest all 87 seats
After deliberations with Congress leaders and workers at all levels, the party has come to the conclusion that we will fight the forthcoming J-K Assembly elections on our own strength.... We will field candidates on all 87
seats. Ambika Soni, aicc general secretary NC-Congress coalition govt: High and lows
Decision mutual, says Omar Jammu, July 20 The decision, which the Congress announced in Jammu today, was taken 10 days ago, he claimed. “I did not announce it because I didn’t want to get into the game of one-upmanship,” Omar told The Tribune in an exclusive interview on Sunday. “I had met Sonia Gandhi 10 days ago and told her that my party (the National Conference) would go it alone in the upcoming Assembly elections. She understood it. There were no takers in my party for a pre-poll alliance, especially after the parliamentary elections. “There was pressure of party workers on both sides,” he said. He had met Sonia “to convey my gratitude to her for her support. She had been very nice to all of us and I felt it was my duty to convey my gratitude to her”. Omar had met Sonia and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on July 10.He felt it was a “little unfair” on the part of the Congress to have spun it like as if “they were walking out of the alliance. It is not their way. It was a mutual decision and it should have come out like that only”. Despite all this, Omar said: “We will continue to remain in the government till our term lasts.” On if there was any chance of the two sides getting back together, Omar, who is also the working president of the NC, said there was scope for a “tactical alliance”, but he did not elaborate. “The post-poll alliance will depend on the numbers. That will be known only after the elections. We are already in the process of announcing our candidates. We have released the first list of 32 candidates, and will announce the candidates for other constituencies after Eid-ul-Fitr,” Omar said. On his candidature, he said: “I know for sure where from I am not going to contest, but haven’t made up my mind from where to contest.” Whether it would be his decision or that of his party, he said it would a “combination of both”. Tried to avoid one-upmanship I had met Sonia Gandhi 10 days ago and told her that my party would go it alone in the upcoming Assembly elections. She understood it... I did not announce it because I didn’t want to get into the game of
one-upmanship. — Omar Abdullah, j-k cm
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