PDP to contest all 3 Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir after pre-poll alliance with NC collapses

Srinagar, Apr 3: In a major setback to the pre-poll alliance between the National Conference(NC) and PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti has announced that the PDP will now field candidates for all the three Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir Valley. NC’s unilateral decision to contest on all three Valley seats has left PDP with no other option but to part ways and contest independently.

Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Mufti criticized NC’s move, saying it has scuttled the alliance between the two parties. She pointed out that as part of the alliance formula, NC was supposed to leave two seats in Jammu for Congress while adjusting PDP on one or more seats in Kashmir. However, NC’s recent announcement to field its candidates on all three Kashmir seats has changed the dynamics on the ground.

With the coalition dented, PDP chief Mufti reiterated that her party will not bow out of the electoral battle. The PDP parliamentary board will soon meet to finalize candidates for each constituency, she informed. Political observers see this as a major setback for the opposition bloc that was positioning itself as a viable alternative to BJP in the Valley. It remains to be seen if the two arch rivals PDP and NC will now put up a united fight or end up splitting votes.