New Delhi : The Congress Party held a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Monday at its headquarters in New Delhi to finalise candidates for the remaining seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, following the party's announcement of nine candidates on August 27.
The meeting was chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary KC Venugopal were also in attendance.
After the CEC meeting, Congress leader TS Singh Deo said, "The party has already declared nine candidates for the J&K Assembly elections. Today, we discussed 29 assembly seats. The list will be out soon."
Congress leader Ambika Soni informed that, apart from three seats, the Congress has finalised its candidates for all the constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. "Apart from three seats, all the seats were decided today; the second list will be out soon," said Ambika Soni.
The Congress had announced its first list of nine candidates for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in a document signed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal on August 27.
Prominent leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir will contest from Dooru, while Vikar Rasool Wani will run from Banihal. Peerzada Mohd Syed will stand for the Anantnag constituency, and Sheikh Riaz will contest the Doda seat.
The party has fielded Surinder Singh Channi for the Tral seat, Amanullah Mantoo for Devsar, Shaikh Zafarullah for Inderwal, Nadeem Sharief for Bhadarwah, and Pradeep Kumar Bhagat for Doda West.
According to the seat-sharing agreement between the two parties, the National Conference (NC) will contest 51 of the 90 seats, and the Congress will contest 32. The two parties will also contest five seats against each other. They have left one seat each for the CPI(M) and the Panthers Party.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) has also extended its support to the Congress and National Conference alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir polls. Jammu and Kashmir has 90 assembly constituencies, with 7 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 9 for Scheduled Tribes (STs).
According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible electors. In the previous Assembly elections, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12.
The PDP and BJP formed a coalition government led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. However, in 2018, the BJP withdrew its support after Mehbooba Mufti took over following Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's demise. These upcoming elections will be the first in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.