The Congress party on Monday released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Among 19 candidates, the party has fielded ex-NSUI chief Neeraj Kundan from Bishnah. Neeraj Kundan, former chief of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), will contest from Bishnah. Chaudhary Lal Singh is fielded from Basohli, and Raman Bhalla will vie for the R S Pura-Jammu South seat.
Other key candidates include Irfan Hafeez Lone from Wagoora-Kreeri, Summit Mangotra from Udhampur West, Manohar Lal Sharma from Billawar, Balbir Singh from Nagrota, Thakur Manmohan Singh from Jammu West, Yogesh Sawhney from Jammu East, and Krishan Dev Singh from Samba.
Jammu-Kashmir Election: Congress Candidates Announced So Far
The Congress party had previously announced its second list of six candidates for the Assembly elections last week. The candidates in this list included Tariq Hameed Karra from Central Shalteng, Mumtaz Khan from Reasi, Bhupender Jamwal from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Iftkar Ahmed from Rajouri (ST), Shabir Ahmad Khan from Thannamandi (ST), and Mohd Shahnawaz Choudhary from Surankote (ST). This announcement followed a meeting of the Congress' Central Election Committee in New Delhi to finalise the candidates. Earlier, on August 27, the party had released its first list, which included prominent leaders such as Ghulam Ahmad Mir from Dooru, Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal, Peerzada Mohd Syed from Anantnag, Sheikh Riaz from Doda, and others.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress has formed an alliance with the National Conference (NC). According to the seat-sharing arrangement, the NC will contest 51 out of 90 seats, while the Congress will compete for 32 seats. Both parties will contest five seats against each other, with one seat each reserved for the CPI (M) and the Panthers Party. Additionally, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has extended support to this alliance. Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 90 assembly constituencies, with seven seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and nine for Scheduled Tribes (STs).