NEW DELHI, Dec 23: With assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir throwing up a hung verdict, Congress today said it was “open” to aligning with PDP in the state to provide a government.
“We are always open. We have allied with PDP as well as with National Conference in past. One thing is clear that we will not go with BJP. As far as they (PDP and NC) are concerned, we have had alliances with them,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
Azad, who campaigned extensively for the party in the elections, had earlier led a coalition government with PDP which had fallen apart on the Amarnath issue.
Azad’s remarks came as trends clearly indicated that PDP is in a position to form the next government in the state with the support of either of the two national parties.
PDP, headed by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and BJP were leading in 25 seats each. The ruling National Conference was ahead in 16 seats and the Congress in 14 out of the 87 seats in the state Assembly, according to the trends.
In Jammu, state Congress spokesperson Rashid Choudhary said that party will be part of a secular government in the state.
“Congress will part of the secular government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he told reporters.
He said “no secular government can be formed without Congress. Congress and PDP were in government in coalition in 2002. It was good government. It ran well. Congress was also in coalition with NC”.
Choudhary said that Congress is open to being part of a secular government in the state.
Hitting out at the opinion polls showing a Congress rout in J&K, he said, “Congress did not believed in opinion polls. We had rejected these. They turned out to be wrong. People have voted for Congress for the work and development it has done”. (PTI)
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