The National Conference and Congress Monday finalised themodalities of the seat-sharing arrangement for their pre-poll alliance, aheadof the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir

After the day-long negotiations at National Conferencepresident Farooq Abdullah’s residence ended, the two parties decided to contest83 seats together – 51 would be fought by the NC and 32 by the Congress. Oneseat each has been set aside for the CPIM and the J&K Pather’s party.

In five seats, where both NC and Congress have decided tofield candidates, a “friendly contest” is on the cards. The five seats, onwhich the two parties could not come to an agreement, are Sopore, Banihal,Bhaderwah, Doda and Nagrota

Congress’s KC Venugopal said the “alliance has been formedto save the soul of J&K, which the BJP is trying to destroy”.