Ghulam Nabi Azad to be joint RS candidate of NC, Congress

NEW DELHI: National Conference has decided to join hands with Congress and pitch Ghulam Nabi Azad as a joint candidate for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls to be held next month in Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision was arrived after a meeting between Congress President Sonia Gandhi dand National Conference working President Omar Abdullah here.

After the half-an-hour long meeting, Omar tweeted that the two parties have "decided to combine forces to file a joint candidate for RS polls in J&K to snatch a seat from the unholy alliance."

National Conference with 15 seats and Congress has 12 MLA in the 87-member house.

The tenure of the term of the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state will expire next month. The four members whose term is expiring are Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saif-ud-Din Soz (February 10) and National Conference (NC) leaders Ghulam Nabi Wani and Mohammad Shafi (February 15).

According to a notification issued by the EC, the polls will be held on February 7 and counting of votes is scheduled for the same day.