Congress' Central Election Committee Meets to Finalise on Candidates for J&K Polls

New Delhi: The Congress' central election committee met here on Friday and finalised a few names for contesting the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said the committee would meet again soon as only a few names were finalised and there would be further discussions on some other possible candidates.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tariq Hameed Karra, screening committee chairperson for the state Sukhjinder Randhawa and senior leaders Ambika Soni and Salman Khurshid, among others, attended the meeting.

The meeting came a day after the National Conference announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to the polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Friday said the seat-share arrangement with the Congress had been finalised for a majority of constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir and that parleys were underway to reach a consensus over the remainder.

The alliance was announced by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gandhi and Kharge held discussions with the regional party's leadership on Thursday.

Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases -- September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 4. 

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