Parties in the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) have yet to finalise their candidates for District Development Council (DDC) polls even as two days are left for filing of nominations for the first phase of polls.
November 12 is the last date for filing nomination papers and November 16 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The first phase of DDC polls will be held on November 28, 2020.
The political activities in J&K have increased after BJP finalised 72 candidates who would contest across the Union Territory in the first phase. However, the political parties which are the part of PAGD have yet to decide on the names even as the ground exercise has been finalised after taking assessment from the district leaders of their respective political parties, said a senior politician from Jammu’s Pirpanjal.
“Our party has finalised candidates and we have sent it to the party high command,” said a PDP insider. Similarly, finalizing names of the candidates is yet to be completed in the National Conference (NC) and then, they will recommend them to the leadership for their approval.
The NC sources said: “It is likely that both PDP and NC may release the list by tomorrow with the final approval of Dr Farooq Abdullah – head of PAGD.”
“We have involved district presidents and local leaders to decide names for the first phase. The list is yet to complete and the process is on,” said a senior leader of Congress.
The Congress leader said, “At local level, they (district/local leaders) can adjust with the National Conference and other groups in their respective constituencies ‘under electoral arrangements’ in certain places, but not in all the areas.”
“We do not want to give a cake walk to BJP in DDC polls. We will give a tough fight to BJP. Politics in Jammu is different from Kashmir valley. Therefore, it is most likely that we will not share all the seats with the People’s Alliance,” added the senior Congress leader.
The election commission has announced DDC polls on 280 seats in 8 phases in J&K.