Srinagar, Jun 18 (IANS): Former IAS officer Shah Faesal and former MLA Engineer Rashid on Tuesday announced a pre-poll alliance to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

At a press conference here, Faesal and Rashid announced that the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) and Awami Itehad Party have joined hands to form an electoral alliance called the Peoples United Front.

Rashid is the chief of Awami Itehad Party, while Faesal, who gave up his coveted career in the IAS to join politics, formed the JKPM.

"In view of the prevailing political circumstances in the state, the Awami Itehad Party and JKPM have decided to enter into a pre-poll alliance and gather under the banner of Peoples United Front.

"The alliance has been necessitated by the ongoing political uncertainty in the state, apprehensions with regard to assaults on the special status and the absence of any credible political alternative that could address both the political vacuum and the absence of good governance.

"The Peoples United Front will make all efforts to unite the state's people, irrespective of religion, region, caste and creed and seek for all citizens of the state equal opportunities and social, economical and political justice," Faesal read out a statement jointly released by him and Rashid.