J&K Elections: Congress Releases List Of Six Candidates For Assembly Polls. Details Here

The Congress has named Tariq Hameed Karra from Central Shalteng, Mumtaz Khan from Reasi, Bhupender Jamwal from Mata Vaishno Devi, Iftkar Ahmed from Rajouri and Shabir Ahmad Khan from Thannamandi. 

The Congress on Monday released a list of six candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, fielding JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra from Central Shalteng.

The party named Mumtaz Khan from Reasi, Bhupender Jamwal from Mata Vaishno Devi, Iftkar Ahmed from Rajouri, Shabir Ahmad Khan from Thannamandi and Mohd Shahnawaz Choudhary from Surankote. 

The candidates' list came soon after Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) met in New Delhi to finalise names of candidates for the elections, which the party is contesting in alliance with the National Conference. 

The candidates announced for the constituencies in the fresh list will go to polls in the second phase of the three-phase assembly elections.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, general secretary in-charge (organisation) K C Venugopal, Karra, Jammu and Kashmir screening committee chief Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and senior leader Salman Khurshid, among others, attended the meeting at the AICC headquarters in the national capital.

Last week, the grand-old party announced its first list of nine candidates for the assembly elections in the UP, fielding Ghulam Ahmad Mir from Dooru and former JKPCC chief Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal.

So far, the party has declared candidates on 15 seats. Last week, the Congress issued list of nine candidates for the assembly elections in J&K, fielding party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir from Dooru and former JKPCC chief Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal.

The NC and the Congress have finalised the seat-sharing formula and will contest 51 and 32 seats, respectively. There will be a friendly contest on a few seats.

"The screening committee meeting that was held yesterday, for about four to four and a half hours, discussed the second phase and the third phase. With the notification for the second phase issued, our emphasis was on the second phase, so that all the seats are cleared in the CEC meeting today...today also we discussed both the second phase as well as the third phase," Karra said after the meeting, according to PTI.

Six seats of the second phase and 23 seats out of 40 of the third phase were discussed at the CEC meeting, he added.

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.