NC's Farooq Abdullah next exit from INDIA bloc; says will fight LS polls alone

NC’s Farooq Abdullah next exit from INDIA bloc; says will fight LS polls alone

In another severe blow to the INDIA bloc of opposition parties, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday announced his party will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone.

“We tried hard for an alliance, but we did not make any headway, so we are going to contest the elections alone,” he told reporters.

Abdullah, who was among the leading architects of the INDIA bloc, is the third regional party chief to walk out of the alliance. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann have already expressed reservations on seat sharing in the upcoming general election.

National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah recently said there would be no talks on sharing all three Lok Sabha seats of the Kashmir valley that his party was representing. He had said negotiations could be held on two seats of Jammu and the lone seat of Ladakh.

Replying to questions, Farooq said it was expected that the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections may be held simultaneously in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the electoral bonds scheme scrapped by the Supreme Court, he said, “We hope parties agree to this and come out with the details. People should know where the money has come from. Hope it is declared before elections.”

Talking about the fluid political scenario in Pakistan, he said, “A stable Pakistan is important for India.”