Srinagar: Last-ditch efforts to bring alliance partners-the National Conference (NC) and Congress-together for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls have failed due to disagreements over voting preference of independent MLAs, who are not required to disclose their votes to authorized polling agents during the election.

Sources that discussions between the two parties continued till late night, following Congress’s public refusal on Sunday evening to contest the riskier seat offered by the NC.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Congress had expressed willingness to contest the fourth seat on the condition that five NC MLAs would vote for its candidate, instead of relying on five independents currently supporting the ruling alliance.

“We made it clear to the NC command that we

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