SRINAGAR: The Congress party has unveiled its first set of nine candidates for the forthcoming three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Notable contenders include party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who will run from Dooru, and former state unit president Vikar Rasool Wani, who will vie for the Banihal seat.
The candidate list features Surinder Singh Channi (Tral), Amanullah Mantoo (Devsar), Peerzada Mohammad Syed (Anantnag), Shaikh Zafarullah (Inderwal), Nadeem Sharief (Bhadarwah), Sheikh Riyaz (Doda), and Pradeep Kumar Bhagat (Doda West).
This announcement comes after the completion of a seat-sharing arrangement between Congress and its ally, the National Conference (NC).
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The Congress will contest 37 seats in the 90-member Assembly, in partnership with its INDIA bloc ally, the National Conference (NC). The agreement outlines that the Congress will field candidates in 32 seats, while the NC will contest 51 seats. On five seats, both parties will engage in a ‘friendly but disciplined’ competition.
Two additional seats have been allocated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Panthers Party.
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The seat-sharing arrangement was finalized in a meeting between NC leader Farooq Abdullah, his son and party Vice President Omar Abdullah—both former chief ministers—and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge along with ex-party leader Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.