Total number of seats 87

National Conference 28
PDP 21
BJP 11
Congress 17
JKNPP 03
People’s Democratic Front 01
Independents 06

As Jammu and Kashmir headed for a hung assembly, the National Conference today said it would prefer to have an alliance with the Congress.

“Personally, I will prefer to have an alliance with the Congress,” NC President Omar Abdullah said when asked whom his party would like to see as a coalition partner in the future government.

Ruling out any possibility of having a tie-up with BJP, Omar Abdullah said his party would prefer to sit in the opposition rather than forming a government with the saffron party. However, his father Dr. Farooq Abdulla did not rule out the possibility of alliance with NDA/BJP. NC was part of A B Vajpayee-led NDA government.

Abdullah said the NC would try to get the support of the independent MLAs first before mulling other options.

Asked who would be the next Chief Minister as the party had already projected Farooq Abdullah as Chief Ministerial candidate, he said a final decision would be taken later on.

However, Congress sources said the party would like to go with one of the two regional parties—National Conference and PDP—and take help of independents to form the next Government.

As BJP gained in Jammu region, Congress today said the controversy over the transfer of land to Amarnath shrine cost the party heavily in the region.

“Amarnath land row cost us dearly. It is an emotive issue and it took place just before the elections…Had the land row not been there, we could have swept the polls,” AICC General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.

The Congress leader hoped that the party would be able to retain 20 seats which it had won in the last elections.

“We contested a hard election. The Congress is there to stay in the State,” Chavan said.

Asked with whom would the party go with in forming the next Government, he said “options are open. It will be a coalition government.”

Chavan said that the Congress-led coalition government in the state had launched several developmental works and wants to continue it.

“We thank the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their participation in the elections prove their faith in democracy and our neighbours should learn a lesson from it,” .