NC par board to field Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar-Budgam constituency

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah will seek re-election from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat while former Jammu and Kashmir speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone will be the party's candidate from the Baramulla constituency, a NC spokesman said Monday. The NC parliamentary board, which met here on Monday, also authorised the party president to take a final decision on any coalition with "secular forces taking into account the national political situation", according to the spokesman.

The board met at the NC's headquarters 'Nawa-e-Subha'.The meeting was chaired by Abdullah, he said. Members of the National Conference (NC) parliamentary board were unanimously of the opinion that the party should contest all the six parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesman said. The board has decided to field Abdullah from the Srinagar-Budgam constituency, and senior leader and former speaker of the state assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone from the Baramulla constituency, he said. The names of the candidates for other constituencies will be finalised in the next meeting of the board, the spokesman said.

(With inputs from agencies.)