Congress mulls 2+2+1 seat-sharing formula in J&K for Lok Sabha elections

The party expects to play the big brother in the elections.

NEW DELHI

As the political leadership in Jammu and Kashmir sees a remote possibility of Assembly elections being conducted in the Union territory, the political leadership of Congress has been discussing the seat-sharing formula for general elections for the five Lok Sabha segments.

According to leaders closely associated with the party’s political affairs committee, the committee’s leadership has marked out a seat-sharing formula where the Congress expects to play a big brother role in the elections. The formula, according to a party insider, has been decided as 2 to be given to the National Conference, 2 Congress will keep and 1 to PDP.

Expectations are as such that the Congress would want to contest from the Srinagar LS constituency and Jammu constituency where Tariq Hamid Karra and Raman Bhalla could contest respectively. In 2014, Karra had defeated Farooq Abdullah by a huge margin of over 42,000 seats. In 2019, Bhalla had obtained 37% vote share against BJP’s Jugal Kishore who had won by gaining more than 50% votes.

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told The Sunday Guardian, “There has been no formal proposal from the Congress yet. When it comes to us, the National Conference leadership will contemplate and decide. Till now, there hasn’t been any discussion on it.”

PDP has seen a sharp decline in its cadre strength and also hasn’t been able to echo the party’s voice through the masses. A political observer in the Union territory said, “They have been side-lined in the electoral framework. There is not much in her party. Several top leaders have left the PDP. Now, Mehbooba Mufti has been giving speeches in favour of Congress. She is clinging to the coattails of Rahul Gandhi wanting to be led into BJP-free rule. So, she is left with no choice but to comply with whatever the Congress says.”
However, NC appears to be strong on the ground, but the party is abuzz with rumours that there could be a lot of pressure on Farooq Abdullah and it is possible that he can anytime switch sides and be a part of the BJP camp. However, in that case, it is also being floated that there could be resistance from Omar Abdullah.

A political analyst based in Kashmir said, “If National Conference allies with BJP in coming times, it will be the death of their future in Kashmir. The living example of it has been People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It allied with BJP after the 2014 Assembly elections and after they dismembered themselves with the saffron camp, they fell down like a stone falling from the sky. They lost their important leaders. They lost their cadre and above all, they lost the trust of people.

Perhaps, that could be what the BJP wants to do in Kashmir. They want to diminish regional parties in the Union territory and make it a place where the two national parties fight to increase their winnability.”