Four independent MLAs extended support to National Conference on Thursday.
Pyare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Choudhary Mohammed Akram, and Dr Rameshwar Singh – who won the Inderwal, Chhamb, Surankote, and Bani seats – have backed the NC.
NC vice president Omar Abdullah announced that four of the seven Independent MLAs have extended support to the NC, thus taking the party’s strength to 46.
The four had won the election as independent candidates.
While Pyare Lal and Chowhdhary Akram were associated with NC and contested as independent candidates after the seats were allocated to Congress as per seat sharing agreement between NC and Congress for Assembly polls.
Satish Sharma was associated with Congress but after being denied ticket from Chhamb Assembly segment, he contested as an independent and won.
Two other NC rebels, who also contested the polls as independent candidates and won, are yet to take a call on whether to join NC or Congress.
The NC has emerged as the single-largest party in the just-concluded Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls with 42 seats. The party has a comfortable majority in the 95-member Assembly as its alliance partners Congress and CPI(M) have won six seats and one seat respectively.