Congress, National Conference battle infighting over sharing of seats as nomination deadline nears in J&K

Jammu, August 25

Even as the senior leadership of the Congress and National Conference (NC) announced a pre-poll alliance in J&K, internal strife has started following an impasse on some seats in the Jammu division.

Workers of the National Conference are agitated over the reported allocation of Banihal seat in Ramban district to the Congress. NC workers have openly rebelled against the decision, asserting that an NC candidate should contest from the segment.

A senior NC leader from Ramban, Sajjad Shaheen, also held a workers meeting in Banihal on Friday and criticised the move to allot constituency to the Congress. While there had been no official announcement on any of the seats till Sunday evening, local leaders have been informed about the list of candidates.

Addressing party workers, Shaheen openly asked the senior leadership of the NC to “maintain its independence in Banihal and not compromise on its core values”. He went on to say that the alliance with the Congress would be detrimental to the party’s interests and alienate its voter base.

Sources said that as per the alliance, the Banihal seat had been allocated to the Congress, which was likely to field former J&K party chief Vikar Rasool Wani, who won from the seat twice in 2008 and 2014.

Several seats in Jammu and Rajouri districts have also become a bone of contention between the Congress and the NC. The contentious seats in Rajouri include areas with significant population of Hindus.

While the local Congress leaders have urged the party high command to not let these seats go to the NC, a decision is awaited in this regard.

Congress sources said the NC was claiming Nagrota and Jammu North seat in Jammu district, Vijaypur in Samba, and Sunderbani-Kalakote and Nowshera in Rajouri district. “These are all Hindu-dominated seats, and the National Conference has no chance here,” said a senior Congress leader.

“How can the Congress concede both Hindu seats of Sunderbani-Kalakote and Nowshera of Rajouri district,” party leaders questioned.

They asserted that these seats have a significant population of PoJK displaced persons, who were granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status this year by the Central Government. Thus, the BJP is set to give a tough competition to the alliance on these seats.

Devender Singh Rana won the Nagrota seat on NC ticket in 2014, but shifted to the BJP in 2021. Besides, NC candidate SS Slathia won from Vijaypur in the 2008 Assembly poll.

Uncertainty looms large over the alliance as the Jammu and Kashmir leaders of the Congress have submitted a list of candidates from all 90 constituencies in the UT to the screening committee and have left the decision in the hands of the high command. A meeting between UT leaders and the screening committee was held in Srinagar on Saturday. However, the Congress is yet to officially announce its candidates.

The last date for nominations for the first phase is August 27, while the scrutiny of nominations will take place on August 28. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature is August 30.

Row over Jammu segments

• There had been no official announcement on any seat till Sunday evening, but local leaders were informed about the list of candidates.
• Local Congress leaders have questioned the ‘allotment’ of Hindu-dominated seats — Nagrota, Jammu North, Vijaypur, Sunderbani-Kalakote & Nowshera — to National Conference
• On the other hand, NC workers are agitated over Banihal seat going to the Congress.