National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday said his party was “not rigid” and "ready to compromise with Congress on 3 seats," news agency ANI reported.
Abdullah said if the National Conference was rigid then it would have declared candidates on all the six seats like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The party is not fielding its candidates on 50% of the seats.
“We are not rigid, if we were rigid then we would have declared our candidates on all 6 seats like Mamata Banerjee..We are not fielding our candidates on 50% of the seats...In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee did not leave for Congress the seats which Congress had won. We are ready to compromise with Congress on 3 seats...," Omar Abdullah said.
"If Congress wants, they can offer Jammu seats to the PDP," India Today quoted the NC vice presidentas saying.
However, the report said the NC vice president was optimistic about the seat-sharing discussions with Congress in the union territory. "Our talks with Congress are going in the right direction. An announcement will be made soon," he added.
The development followed after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed unhappiness over the NC's decision to contest all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir. Accusing the NC of reducing the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to a "joke", the PDP chief on Friday said that the NC's decision was "disappointing" and a "setback to the hopes of the people of J&K".
PAGD is an alliance of five political parties seeking the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir which was revoked by the Centre in 2019.
The Congress, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and NC are part of the INDIA bloc.
"Omar Abdullah himself said that they're not in the alliance. We wanted The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to continue but everyone knows who ended this PAGD. We will talk to Congress as we are in the INDIA alliance and see how to go forward," ANI quoted Mufti as saying.
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