Srinagar: The National Conference Tuesday ended suspense and announced first list of 32 candidates who will contest the forthcoming assembly elections in the State, due by the end of this year. Almost all the candidates including Ali Muhammad Sagar and Abdul Rahim Rather are a repetition, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Mustafa Kamal did not figure in the first list.
The choice of constituencies for which the candidates have been announced suggests the party’s painful dilemma of deciding over the pre-poll alliance with its current coalition partner Congress. It is clear from the list that the party has kept open the option of an alliance with Congress.
A party spokesman said the Parliamentary Board under the Chairmanship of the Working President Omar Abdullah after the approval of the President Farooq Abdullah cleared the list of 32 candidates, 19 for Kashmir Valley, 12 for Jammu region and 1 for Ladakh.
The Parliamentary Board comprising AR Rather, S Harbans Singh, Ali Muhammad Sagar, Chodhri Muhammad Ramzan, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Nasir Aslam Wani and Devender Singh Rana met Tuesday morning and discussed the panels of candidates received from the Block and the District Committees of the party. After three-hour deliberations the party declared the list of 32 candidates and decided to meet later this week to discuss the other seats, the spokesman said.
Party has however not announced the candidates for Zadibal, Sonawar, Hazratbal, Ganderbal, Khansahab and other important constituencies.
The candidates that party has given mandate included
Irfan Ahmad Shah from Batamaloo Constituency; Mubarak Gul (Eidgah); Nasir Aslam Wani (Amira Kadal); Shamima Firdous (Habba Kadal); Ali Muhammad Sagar (Khanyar); Abdur Rahim Rather (Charar-e-Sharif); Aga Syed Rohulla (Budgam); Mian Altaf (Kangan); Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri (Bijbehara); Advocate Abdul Majeed (Homeshalibugh); Sakina Itoo (Noorabad); Muhammad Ashraf Bhat (Tral); Showkat Ahmad Ganai (Wachi); Javed Ahmad Dar (Rafiabad); Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurez); Muhammad Akbar Lone (Sonawari); Mir Saifullah (Kupwara); Qaiser Jamsheed Lone (Lolaab); Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan (Handwara); Sajad Ahmad Kichloo (Kishtwar); Aijaz Jan (Poonch-Haveli); Abdul Gani Malik (Ghulab Garh); Surjit Singh Salathia (Vijaypur); Ajay Kumar Sadhotra (Marh); Radhay Sham Sharma (Nowshehra); Javed Ahmad Rana (Mendhar); Rashpal Singh (Kalakote); Dharamveer Singh Jamwal (Jammu West); Jagjeevan Lal (Raesi); Ramesh Motton (RS Pura); Chodhri Liyaqat (Darhaal); Tsetan Namgyal (Nobra).
NC’s first list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections suggest that the party has kept open the option for the pre-poll alliance with its coalition partner Congress, agencies quoted observers as said.
The list issued by the senior party leadership on Tuesday indicated that only those areas in both Kashmir and Jammu province have been given to the NC leaders that are not controlled by the Congress legislators. Dooru and Kokernag is still open while as Noorabad from South Kashmir has been given to Sakina Ittoo. In the same way, Kishtwar was given to Kitchloo but no candidate was nominated from other assembly segments of the Doda-Kishtwar-Bhadarwah region controlled by the Congress.
NC on Monday had stated that the final call over the issue would be taken within few days and that the hectic deliberations are going on over the issue. Also it stated that no final decision over entering into pre-poll alliance with its ally Congress has been taken so far and that the party president will make the final announcement over the issue.
NC senior leader Mustafa Kamal maintained that the party president has been authorized by the party leadership to take final call over the issue. Only he can take the decision whether we should have alliance with the Congress or go alone in the polls. As far as the general view is concerned both the senior leaders of NC and Congress have made it clear that coming elections should be contested separately.
Kamal maintained further that Farooq has already been appraised over the views and opinions of the party workers over the pre-poll issue and everything shall be taken into consideration before taking the final call.
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