Parliament election seat sharing based on DDC formula among PAGD allies: Omar

Anantnag, Apr 02: Former Chief Minister and Vice President of J&K National Conference, Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the seat sharing for parliamentary elections among the PAGD allies is determined by the DDC elections formula, and that NC’s stance remains unchanged.
He was addressing a public rally at Liver Pahalgam in Anantnag district. This was the national conference’s first public rally after they officially nominated Mian Altaf Ahmad as the candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency.
Omar said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not formally declared its intention to contest parliamentary elections and accused the media of unwarranted speculation. He referred to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s assertion of unity in Delhi with Farooq Abdullah and her commitment to the INDIA alliance, urging the media to refrain from sowing discord. He said that neither their speeches nor decisions have altered.
Addressing seat allocation, Abdullah clarified that it was based on the 2014 assembly election results, with DDC candidates nominated according to the winning party in each constituency. He dismissed allegations of pressure from agencies.
“The DDC candidates were nominated based on the assembly election results of 2014. Whichever party had won in a particular constituency was awarded the corresponding DDC seat. A similar formula was applied for the parliamentary elections,” he said, adding that the PDP, NC and Peoples Conference (PC) were allocated seats based on their assembly victories.
He also criticised the targeting of opposition leaders, citing the recent arrest of Arvind Kejriwal as an example. He cautioned against such actions, deeming them a threat to democracy.
On electoral bonds, he said, “The information is readily available post the Supreme Court’s judgment on electoral bonds. And if the media fails to hold the elected government accountable, it is our responsibility to raise questions.
The primary inquiry pertains to companies getting into construction projects such as the Zojila Tunnel – under what conditions have they acquired electoral bonds? he questioned
He further said, “As the Centre claims that the people of J&K are happy, they will get to know on the counting day how happy or sad the people truly are.”
“None of our community is happy today. I have been Chief Minister of this state, and I know how important March 21 is for us. We used to open our finances and make efforts to ensure the contractors got their bills released. However, the bureaucracy ruling us put their hands up on 27th or 28th and closed their treasury, saying no payment would come from here,” the NC leader alleged.
The former CM also alleged that there was money available, and according to his information, a minimum of 1,000 crores or more from Kashmir itself has lapsed and gone back to the Centre.
Apart from Omar Abdullah, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Nasir Aslam Wani, Dr Veeri, Altaf Kaloo and others were present on the occasion.