The Hindu : Cong. confident of govt. formation in J&K

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 10, 2002

National

National

Cong. confident of govt. formation in J&K

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 9. With all indications of a hung House in Jammu & Kashmir, and optimistic about the party's performance in the Assembly elections, a confident Congress has begun working on the arithmetic of government-formation even as it officially waits "for the numbers to emerge'' for "formal consultations''.

Confident of staking a claim to form the Government after several years of political wilderness in the State, the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president, Gulam Nabi Azad, said his party and the National Conference were heading for a photo-finish.

"Not more than three to four seats will determine whether the Congress or the National Conference will be the single largest party in the Assembly,'' Mr. Azad said here on Tuesday shortly after the last phase of polling in J&K drew to a close. A "conservative'' count by Congressmen at the end of the fourth round of polls put the party's tally in the vicinity of 30 seats.

With about 20 independent candidates in the fray — some of them fielded as proxy nominees by various parties — the Congress is banking on their dislike for the National Conference bringing them its way. "Not one of them is for the NC,'' said the PCC president.

Though tight-lipped about a possible alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP), much is being made of the Congress decision to withdraw candidates from as many as seven Assembly segments in favour of the PDP. In all, the Congress either pulled out or did not contest in 10 segments in the Valley in favour of independent-Left candidates. Also, the party did not field candidates in five segments in Anantnag ``in the larger interest of defeating the National Conference''.

About the post-poll scenario — particularly vis-a-vis the future Chief Minister, should the Congress be part of a coalition Government - Mr. Azad said "whichever party has the largest number of seats will lead the coalition''.

As for the Congress soliciting the support of proxy candidates fielded by the People's Conference — part of the All Party Hurriyat Conference which had boycotted the polls — the official line is that "we have an open mind''.

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