Cong set to back NC's power bid

NEW DELHI: The Congress is likely to extend support to the National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir to form the next coalition government.

The party���s top brass met to discuss the hung verdict thrown up by the J&K electorate at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh���s 7, Race Course Road, residence on Sunday evening. The meeting happened in the backdrop of the NC making open overtures towards the Congress to form a coalition government.

No decision was announced after the meeting, attended by PM, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, home minister P Chidambaram, defence minister AK Antony, AICC general secretary in-charge of J&K , Prithviraj Chavan and Ms Gandhi���s political secretary, Ahmed Patel.

Party sources said Ms Gandhi would consult senior state leaders, including former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress��� state unit chief Saifuddin Soz on Monday, before going public with any decision . Sources said that party brass are under pressure to work out a similar power sharing formula with NC as it had with PDP last time.

The Congress��� willingness to extend support to the NC came across in the statements of several leaders. Mr Chavan, for instance, said the party was only interested in giving the state ���most stable government���. Former chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said: ���We will prefer to support a party having secular and nationalist credentials and can take forward the goals of ensuring peace and development in this border state��� . He added that if a situation arose in which the Congress had to choose the PDP, then he said the previous experiences with the party ���cannot be ignored���. Congress MP and senior leader Karan Singh said: ���Personally, I feel that an NC-Congress alliance will be more compatible. This is my personal view���.

Earlier, when asked whom the NC saw as a coalition partner, Omar Abdullah said: ���Personally, I will prefer to have an alliance with the Congress���.