Alliance with Congress final on all 90 seats, says NC chief Abdullah

Srinagar, August 22

An alliance with the Congress is final on all 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference president Farooq Adbullah said on Thursday.

The announcement came after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge met the National Conference leadership at Abdullah's residence.

"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," Abdullah told reporters.

The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 4.

Abdullah further said, "CPI (M)'s MY Tarigami is also with us. I hope our people are with us too and that we win with a huge majority to improve the lives of people."

When asked about Gandhi's assurance that it would be the priority of the Congress and the INDIA bloc to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah expressed hope. He said, "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."