Amid growing rifts between the ruling alliance partners in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress has declined the National Conference’s offer to contest from the Nagrota Assembly seat, announcing that it will leave the constituency to its ally in the “larger interest of defeating the BJP.” NC also lost no time in announcing its candidate for the constituency.
In a late-night statement, JKPCC Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said the decision was taken after detailed deliberations with the party’s central leadership.“After considering the report of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee and various factors — including the NC’s second-place finish in the 2024 Assembly polls from Nagrota — the INC has decided to leave the seat to the National Conference, in line with the coalition’s goal of defeating the BJP,” Sharma said.
The move comes amid simmering tension between the two allies, following NC’s refusal to offer Congress a ‘safe’ seat in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for October 24. The NC had instead proposed the fourth, relatively riskier seat, which the Congress declined to contest.Party sources said the Congress leadership in both Srinagar and New Delhi is upset over what it sees as the NC’s failure to honour its earlier commitment regarding Rajya Sabha seat-sharing.
Meanwhile, after the Congress declined the offer to contest the Nagrota seat, the Jammu Kashmir National Conference (NC) on Monday announced that District Development Council (DDC) member Shamim Begum will be its candidate from the constituency.
NC’s Provincial President for Jammu, Rattan Lal Gupta, confirmed the decision, saying, “The party high command has cleared her name and she will be filing her nomination papers soon.”Shamim Begum, a Muslim Gujjar woman, had earlier won the 2020 DDC elections from Nagrota.
The Congress cited several factors behind its decision, including the outcome of the 2024 Assembly elections, when the NC had finished second in the constituency while both parties maintained a “friendly contest.” The statement noted that after detailed deliberations with the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee and the party’s central leadership, the decision was made “in furtherance of the broader principles and goals of the coalition to defeat the BJP.”
However, the move comes amid growing tensions between the coalition partners, following the National Conference’s refusal to allocate a “safe” seat to the Congress for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for October 24. The NC had reportedly offered the Congress the fourth, relatively riskier seat, an offer the party declined.Sources within the Congress said both the state and central leadership are upset with what they describe as the NC’s failure to honour its commitment regarding seat-sharing arrangements for the Rajya Sabha polls.
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