Gupkar Alliance says will 'unitedly' fight upcoming Jammu and Kashmir DDC elections

Jammu: Seven mainstream political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, who are part of the Gupkar alliance, on Saturday announced they would unitedly fight the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections in the Union Territory. The parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the PDP, are part of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was formed for the restoration of special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Elections to DDCs and vacant posts of sarpanch and panch will be held in eight phases from 1 December to 24 December in Jammu and Kashmir, according to a notification issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission on Friday. The PAGD decided to participate in the DDC polls at its first meeting in Jammu, since its formation last month. The alliance’s spokesperson, Sajad Ghani Lone, said, “One point of the agenda (for the meeting) was the upcoming DDC elections, and a unanimous decision was taken that we will fight these elections unitedly despite the abruptness of the timing.” “All of a sudden, they (government) sprung a surprise and are going to finish the task within a month,” said Lone, who was flanked by NC leader and PAGD chairperson Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief and the alliance’s vice chairperson Mehbooba Mufti. He said the PAGD will go through the modalities and Farooq Abdullah would release the names of candidates. NC vice president Omar Abdullah and CPM leader MY Tarigami, were among the other leaders, who were at the meeting.