j-k-haryana-polls-cong-to-release-candidate-list-today

The Congress party’s Central Elections Committee (CEC) is likely to announce its list of candidates for the upcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana today, September 2.

The meeting will be attended by party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, LOP Rahul Gandhi, and senior party leader Sonia Gandhi.

Sources said, CEC will announce the names of 90 candidates for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir after the meeting with senior party members. 

Congress has already issued a list of candidates for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir, while a second list will be issued today for the second and third phases, while the list containing names of the candidates for the Haryana elections will be released in the evening today. 

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress is contesting the elections in alliance with the National Conference. Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir will contest from Dooru Kulgam and ex-State unit chief Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal. 

As per alliance agreements, the NC will contest 51 seats, mostly from the Valley and a few Muslim-dominated sections in the Jammu region. 

NC’s coalition partner, the Congress, will contest 32 seats. Additionally, one seat has been allotted to the Marxist Communist Party of India and the other to the JK National Panther's Party. Both parties have also agreed to a “friendly contest” on five seats. 

Apart from J&K, the Congress CEC is also likely to announce its list of candidates for the 90-member Haryana Assembly. 

Reports suggest that the party is considering fielding more non-Jat candidates in the upcoming elections to contain the BJP’s influence among the smaller groups. 

"We anticipate over 70 seats this time around. We see the momentum is on Congress' side. So, there is least scope for errors while finalising the list. We are taking care of that matter. Senior party leaders are all in consultation with each other about the same process.

More than 2500 candidates have applied. So, Congress's CEC will decide about the winning candidates," a party source said. 

On Saturday, August 31, the ECI revised polling dates for Assembly elections from October 1 to October 5 and also changed the dates for vote counting for both J&K and Haryana to October 8 instead of October 4.