Omar puts condition for pre-poll alliance with Congress

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said his party can enter into a pre-poll alliance for Lok Sabha elections with the Congress only if it agrees to NC’s demand of contesting all three Valley seats.

“We have received an offer from the Congress, but we are very clear about taking forward any alliance plan only if our (NC) candidates are to contest all the Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a party function in southern Anantnag district.

“If the condition was agreed upon by the Congress, the NC could talk with them about other seats. Let’s see what response we receive,” Omar added.

J&K has six Lok Sabha seats, three in the Valley, two in the Jammu division and one in the Ladakh division. The NC has already announced candidates for three Lok Sabha seats in the state. While charismatic Farooq Abdullah will be party’s candidate for Srinagar parliament seat, former speaker of J&K Assembly Akbar Lone will contest from north Kashmir’s Baramulla seat and former chief secretary BR Kundal will be the party’s candidate for Jammu-Poonch constituency.

Omar also criticised the Central government for not holding the state Assembly elections simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. “It amounts to denying the people of the state their democratic right to form an elected government,” he said.

Commenting on the launch of a new political party by former IAS officer Shah Faesal, the NC leader said it remains to be seen whether the new party would have something new to offer to the people.