Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) patron Farooq Abdullah has expressed his wish to become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. State assembly poll results showed that NC has emerged as the single largest party overtaking the People's Democratic Party (PDP), but they are short of a majority. The NC managed to retain the 28 seats it won in the 2002 elections. Farooq Abdullah is also ready to form an alliance with Congress which has managed to get 17 seats.

 

However, Congress has not made any statement regarding its choice of party for the coalition government in J&K. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to meet chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior party leader from the state Saifuddin Soz in New Delhi today afternoon to discuss the matter. Reports say that Congress is inclined to make NC president Omar Abdullah the CM rather than his father Farooq.

 

But the junior Abdullah is in support of his father. On the hand, there is no chance that Congress will go into alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, which bagged 21 seats as against the NC’s 28. The reason behind this is simple, Congress plus the PDP does not get to the halfway mark anyway, and any such coalition will need support from independents. Congress-NC coalition will have 45 seats, one above the halfway mark.

 

Farooq Abdullah won from both Hazratbal and Sonawar in Srinagar while his son Omar Abdullah reclaimed the Ganderbal assembly seat in north Kashmir by defeating the same PDP nominee who had humiliated him six years ago.