The minister also accused the Congress, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of staging fake encounters and handing over guns in the hands of the Kashmiri youth and these parties are responsible for encouraging terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh is the BJP candidate for the seat that is witnessing a high-pitched campaign.
The party also announced to field a senior NC leader Aga Syed Ruhulla from Srinagar, which is presently represented by the party chief Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Political parties are worried that the migration is bound to upset their poll calculations.
Dr Abdullah, who held a meeting of the Congress and NC functionaries of the Jammu parliamentary constituency at his residence here, also called for greater coordination between workers of the two parties right down to booth level.
NC vice-president Omar Abdullah wrote on X; “So much for “One Nation One Election”. The EC is unable to conduct assembly polls in J&K with the general election even when they acknowledge that elections are due”.
Nasir Aslam Wani, who led the NC delegation, said they impressed upon the Election Commission the need for holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir together with the Lok Sabha polls.
The PAGD was formed on 4 August 2019, a day before the BJP government abrogated Article 370 and put the regional leaders under house arrest. The long-time foes, NC and PDP, came under one umbrella to fight for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood of J&K.
Interestingly, the NC and PDP are also the prominent members of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).
Distancing himself from Lalu Prasad’s “Parivar” (family) jibe on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former J&K chief minister and National Conference…
