Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections: Congress Announces First List of 9 Candidates

The Congress party has released its first list of nine candidates for the upcoming three-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The announcement follows a seat-sharing agreement with the National Conference (NC), where Congress will contest 51 seats, and NC will contest 32. Key candidates include Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who will contest from Dooru, and former state unit chief Vikar Rasool Wani, who will stand from Banihal. Other candidates in the list are:

• Surinder Singh Channi from Tral
• Amanullah Mantoo from Devsar
• Peerzada Mohammad Syed from Anantnag
• Shaikh Zafarullah from Inderwal
• Nadeem Sharief from Bhadarwah
• Sheikh Riyaz from Doda
• Pradeep Kumar Bhagat from Doda West

The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled in three phases: September 18, September 25, and October 1, with the vote counting set for October 4. In addition to the Congress and NC candidates, one seat each has been allotted to the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP). However, no agreement was reached on five seats, leading to what both parties described as a "friendly contest" in those constituencies.