By IANS,
Srinagar : The stalemate between Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling partners over the candidate for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat has ended. The Congress will field its candidate with support from the National Conference in the cold desert region of the state.
According to National Conference sources, party chief Farooq Abdullah met the Congress high command in New Delhi Tuesday where the issue of the Ladakh seat was resolved.
The coordination committee of the two parties that met here last week had failed to resolve the stalemate with the National Conference staking claim to field its candidate.
The National Conference’s argument had been that it had won two of the four seats in November-December assembly elections from the Ladakh region – Kargil and Zanskar.
The Congress won one with its candidate Nawang Rigzin Jora getting re-elected from Leh.
The National Conference will now field candidates for three seats in the Kashmir Valley – Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag.
The Congress has already announced its candidates from Jammu and Udhampur constituencies. Madan Lal Sharma and Chowdhary Lal Singh are seeking re-election from the two seats respectively.
Jammu and Kashmir has six Lok Sabha seats. The National Conference and Congress will now contest three seats each.
Polling in the state will take place in all five phases, April 16, 23 and 30, and May 7 and 13.