SRINAGAR: The Congress and National Conference on Thursday finalised seat-sharing for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls. The announcement came after the meeting of top Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi with NC leader Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah.“The Congress leadership deliberated with the Abdullahs on forging a pre-poll alliance for the Assembly polls. Both parties discussed the issue in detail and decided that forging alliance is a must to keep divisive forces away,” a Congress leader told this paper. While the exact number of seats allocated to both parties was not revealed, sources said the Congress will fight from most of the 43 seats in Jammu while NC will focus on the Valley. 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. Of the 90 seats, 47 are in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu.Kharge and Rahul arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday. On Thursday, they visited the Gupkar residence of Farooq to meet him and Omar. During the meeting, Rahul stressed on the restoration of J&K’s statehood. Taking a dig at the Modi government for downgrading J&K state into a Union Territory, he said it was the first time in the country’s history that a state was converted into a UT. After the meeting, Farooq Abdullah told reporters that the Congress, NC and CPI(M) are on the same page and will fight the Assembly elections together. According to sources, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami is likely to contest from Kulgam in south Kashmir. This seat will be spared for him by the NC.
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