JAMMU: The Congress has stepped aside from the Nagrota assembly election in J&K on November 11 to govern its ally the National Conference (NC), citing “the larger objective” of defeating the BJP.The decision was taken on Monday, the last date to file nominations for the seat where voting was necessary due to the death of its sitting BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana on October 31 last year, just three weeks after he was elected.Rana’s daughter Devyani is the BJP candidate this time among the 12 in the contest that includes Anil Sharma, a rebel party who will contest as an independent.The Congress chose not to contest despite being offered the seat by CM Omar Abdullah’s NC. J&K Congress (JKPCC) chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma highlighted the need to counter the BJP. “The decision follows detailed deliberations on a JKPCC report and after considering several factors, including the fact that North Carolina had come second in Nagrota in the 2024 assembly elections,” Sharma said.The move comes days after tensions among allies over the October 24 elections for four Rajya Sabha seats from J&K, with the Congress claiming it was not offered a “safe” seat and North Carolina finally fielding candidates for all the seats.In Nagrota, former BJP MLA Rana had a good reputation and won by over 31,000 votes last year. The BJP has won the seat three times in total: in 2002, 2008 and 2024. NC won twice, in 1996 and 2014.This time, the NC has fielded Shamim Begum. She filed her nomination on Monday. Other key contestants include AAP’s Joginder Thakur, Forward Bloc’s Qari Zaheer Abbas Bhatti and Apni Party’s Bodh Raj. BJP rebel Sharma is among the five independents.Nominations will be reviewed on Wednesday, followed by withdrawals, if any, on Friday. Votes will be counted on November 14.No candidate has won Nagrota for the second time except BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma, now MP from Jammu. He was elected MLA in 2002 and 2008.