SRINAGAR FEB 15: Hours after National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced that his party will participate independently in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, his son Omar Abdullah said they are still part of the INDIA alliance.
Talking to reporters at the party headquarters on Thursday morning, Farooq said, “I think assembly elections will be held with the parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir. As far as seat sharing is concerned, NC will contest alone and there is no doubt about it.”
It was reported that NC has parted ways with the INDIA alliance. In the preceding year, a coalition called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was formed by 25 opposition parties to collectively participate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Over the last two weeks, leaders such as Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee declared their withdrawal from the alliance.
However, hours later Omar said NC is in talks with the Congress for an arrangement in three of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“We were a part of the INDIA alliance and we still are. Things have been taken out of context. The main idea of the grouping is to defeat the BJP for there is no point in sailing in two boats,” Omar told journalists in the evening. He was flanked by his father, Farooq Abdullah. He claimed that the media created a “fake narrative” that NC has left the INDIA alliance.
He said the prime minister should start his theory of one nation, one election from Jammu and Kashmir.
In recent months, NC leaders have consistently maintained their stake in the three parliamentary seats in the Valley, currently held by Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi, and Mohammad Akbar Lone. The PDP has urged the INDIA alliance they want to contest at least from the South Kashmir seat, with a potential candidacy for Mehbooba Mufti, who previously lost to NC’s Hasnian Masoodi in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Jammu and Kashmir comprises five parliamentary constituencies, with three situated in the Kashmir Valley and two in Jammu. Currently, the National Conference holds three Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir region—Farooq Abdullah in Central Kashmir, Justice Hasnian Masoodi in South Kashmir, and Mohammad Akbar Lone in North Kashmir. Meanwhile, the BJP represents Jammu with Dr Jitendar Singh and Jugal Kishore as its two parliament members.
