Congress, which opted to exit the Gupkar alliance after hesitating for some time, has 11 seats spread across Baramulla. Shopian, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Ramban, which will be crucial to ensure little control of PAGD in the councils of these districts. In each of Jammu’s three districts, the Gupkar alliance is two seats short of a majority. He also needs the support of Congress to fill the single-seat gap in the Baramulla and Shopian strongholds.
Shopian chose four independents, two of whom have already moved to the Apni Party. In Baramulla, the three independents and two from the Apni Party do not potentially pose any threat to PAGD as long as Congress remains at the window.
Only the independents (51 of them have been elected in the 20 districts) can meet and form the councils in Srinagar and Poonch. In Srinagar, the founder of the Apni Party, Altaf Bukhari, has already declared that the seven winning independent candidates are on his side. Sources said Bukhari may have already sealed the deal by offering the chairmanship of the council to one of the independents.
In a possible but unlikely scenario, these seven could also be linked with PAGD to create an alternate combination of 10 forts. Head of the Popular Conference Sajad lone he added to the speculation on Thursday by stating that two of the independents, the winning candidates in the Qamarwari-I and Qamarwari-II constituencies, were actually members of his party.
Lone said that two of the three successful independents in Baramulla had also pledged their allegiance to the People’s Conference.
Poonch, where BJP was left blank, provides an opportunity for Congress instead of PAGD to steer the boat. Congress has four seats there, while independents represent eight.
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