The INDIA bloc seems to be on a slippery wicket in Jammu and Kashmir as its constituents were so far unable to reach any understanding on sharing of the five seats for the Lok Sabha elections.
The Gupkar Alliance that initially presented a united face, is also now a divided bloc as the general elections are approaching.
The National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who have been attending the meetings of the INDIalliance since its formation, have so far not reached any understanding.
Of the five Lok Sabha seats in J&K, NC represents all three seats of Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, while the BJP holds both seats of Jammu division.
The NC is adamant that the party will contest from all the three seats of the Kashmir valley that it won in the last general election.
NC’s MP from Anantnag, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi has said that the party will not share with anyone even a single seat which it won in 2019.
Dr Farooq Abdullah is a sitting MP from Srinagar and there are reports that former chief minister Omar Abdullah is also likely to contest for Lok Sabha as the assembly elections are nowhere in sight so far.
The PDP is likely to stake claim for the Anantnag seat from where Mehbooba Mufti might seek election. Being her home constituency, she represented it in the Lok Sabha before she became chief minister of the PDP-BJP alliance government.
She was trying to strengthen the party by addressing a series of rallies across Anantnag.
The screening committee of the Congress was in the process of choosing its candidates for all five Lok Sabha seats of J&K.
Congress incharge of J&K, Bharat Sinh Solanki is addressing public meetings across J&K and preparing the party activists for the polls.
The BJP’s electoral scene is clear as the party is likely to repeat its sitting candidates — Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma.
BJP is no more ‘untouchable’ in the Kashmir valley where it has succeeded in creating its cadres. The party is expected to field a prominent candidate for the Anantnag seat in which some segments of Rajouri and Poonch have been added in the recent delimitation.
However, its strategy for the Srinagar and Baramulla seats is yet to be seen.
Amidst allegations of trying to help the BJP in these elections, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad has announced to contest all five Lok Sabha seats. However, Azad has denied that he was fielding candidates to divide the votes of the opposition for electoral gains to the BJP.
People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone, who enjoys considerable popularity in parts of North Kashmir, is also engaged in holding party rallies in the area.
Lone, earlier a separatist, was a minister from the BJP quota in the PDP-BJP government.
Another political outfit, Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, which also faces allegations of being a ‘B-team of BJP’, has not officially opened its cards so far for the Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP with insignificant presence in J&K, is also seeking a share of seats from the INDIA bloc.