<p>Bickering within the constituents of the recently- formed People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) over seat sharing for the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir may dent the prospects of the alliance to fight for the restoration of Article 370.</p>.<p>The PAGD which is an alliance of seven parties,-- National Conference (NC), PDP, CPI, CPM, Peoples Conference, Peoples Movement and Awami National Conference -- was formed on October 15 to work towards restoring the special status of J&K which was revoked last August.</p>.<p>Last week, the alliance decided to contest the first ever DDC polls in J&K unitedly to thwart the BJP’s attempt to make political inroads in Kashmir.</p>.<p>A senior leader of the PAGD told <em>DH </em>that issues have started surfacing within the alliance. “The seat-sharing arrangement for DDC polls has been the first challenge before us. No party is ready to concede any space to the other and as such the leadership has a tough job ahead. Even the smaller parties which have no substantial presence on the ground are vying for more seats,” he revealed.</p>.<p>The leader said all the parties who are part of the alliance have prepared the list of their candidates and have sent it to their respective party high commands for approval. While in Kashmir the PAGD is expected to win majority of the seats, it will have a tough fight with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in mainland Jammu.</p>.<p>Despite Thursday being the last date for filing nomination for the first phase of the polls, no PAGD candidate had filed his papers till Wednesday evening.</p>.<p>However, the PAGD spokesperson Sajad Lone said that there were no issues within the alliance. “The fact is that the government gave us little time to prepare for the polls. There are so many wards and selecting the right candidates is taking time,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p>.<p>The DDC poll will be the first major political activity in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 and will be held in eight phases from November 28 to December 22. In the absence of an elected government in the Union Territory, these councils are set to become a new unit of governance in the region.</p>.<p>The holding of Block Development Council (BDC) polls will complete the third tier of Panchayats for the first time in the history of J&K as never in the past had the erstwhile UT elected DDCs, which used to be headed by the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers. J&K has been under the Central rule since June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of the alliance government with the PDP.</p>
<p>Bickering within the constituents of the recently- formed People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) over seat sharing for the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir may dent the prospects of the alliance to fight for the restoration of Article 370.</p>.<p>The PAGD which is an alliance of seven parties,-- National Conference (NC), PDP, CPI, CPM, Peoples Conference, Peoples Movement and Awami National Conference -- was formed on October 15 to work towards restoring the special status of J&K which was revoked last August.</p>.<p>Last week, the alliance decided to contest the first ever DDC polls in J&K unitedly to thwart the BJP’s attempt to make political inroads in Kashmir.</p>.<p>A senior leader of the PAGD told <em>DH </em>that issues have started surfacing within the alliance. “The seat-sharing arrangement for DDC polls has been the first challenge before us. No party is ready to concede any space to the other and as such the leadership has a tough job ahead. Even the smaller parties which have no substantial presence on the ground are vying for more seats,” he revealed.</p>.<p>The leader said all the parties who are part of the alliance have prepared the list of their candidates and have sent it to their respective party high commands for approval. While in Kashmir the PAGD is expected to win majority of the seats, it will have a tough fight with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in mainland Jammu.</p>.<p>Despite Thursday being the last date for filing nomination for the first phase of the polls, no PAGD candidate had filed his papers till Wednesday evening.</p>.<p>However, the PAGD spokesperson Sajad Lone said that there were no issues within the alliance. “The fact is that the government gave us little time to prepare for the polls. There are so many wards and selecting the right candidates is taking time,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p>.<p>The DDC poll will be the first major political activity in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 and will be held in eight phases from November 28 to December 22. In the absence of an elected government in the Union Territory, these councils are set to become a new unit of governance in the region.</p>.<p>The holding of Block Development Council (BDC) polls will complete the third tier of Panchayats for the first time in the history of J&K as never in the past had the erstwhile UT elected DDCs, which used to be headed by the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers. J&K has been under the Central rule since June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of the alliance government with the PDP.</p>
