The NC and Congress formed a pre-poll alliance last month ahead of the Assembly elections. Under their seat-sharing agreement, the NC is contesting 51 of the 90 Assembly seats, while the Congress is contesting 31 seats.
Read More: Centre Renames Andaman & Nicobar Capital Port Blair, It Will Now Be Called…
The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) issued show-cause notices on Friday to several party leaders who have filed nominations as Independent candidates for Assembly seats allocated to its ally, the National Conference (NC). The Congress labelled their actions as a “breach of alliance unity” and “against the alliance spirit”, reports The Indian Express.
The NC and Congress formed a pre-poll alliance last month ahead of the Assembly elections. Under their seat-sharing agreement, the NC is contesting 51 of the 90 Assembly seats, while the Congress is contesting 31 seats. The parties agreed to a friendly contest for five seats where negotiations stalled. Of these, only one seat—Sopore—is in the Kashmir Valley; the remaining four are in the Jammu region.
Several Congress leaders have filed as Independent candidates for seats that the NC is set to contest. These include former Srinagar district party president Imtiyaz Khan, who is contesting Eidgah in Srinagar against NC veteran Mubarak Gul. Congress leader Waseem Shala is running for the Khanyar seat in Srinagar, where the NC’s Ali Mohammad Sagar is the alliance candidate. Former Congress leader Asif Ahmed Beigh is contesting Habba Kadal against NC’s Shamim Firdous. Manzoor Ahmad Bhat is running for Lal Chowk as an Independent against NC’s Sheikh Ahsan, while Irfan Shah is contesting Central Shalteng against J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra.
The Congress has not yet specified the total number of members who received show-cause notices. These seats were part of the negotiations with the NC, and sources from the NC had previously claimed that the Congress was “unreasonable” in its demands.
In a statement, the Congress said it has requested explanations from these leaders within three days, warning that failure to comply will result in strict disciplinary action.
