Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Visit J&K for Election Talks

Srinagar: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are visiting Jammu and Kashmir’s twin capitals Jammu and Srinagar on August 21 and 22 for key meetings with the local party leaders and workers in the run-up to the upcoming Assembly elections.

In Srinagar, they may also meet National Conference (NC) leadership to explore the possibility of a pre-poll alliance or, at least, a suitable seat adjustment, the party sources said.

Tariq Hameed Karra, the newly appointed JKPCC chief, had on Monday said that his party is open to forging alliance with like-minded people or parties for the J&K Assembly elections scheduled to be held in three phases from September 18. He claimed that the NC has approached the Congress party’s central leadership for a pre-poll alliance.

However, former chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah had at the weekend said that there are bleak chances for a pre-poll alliance with any party for the Assembly elections. NC president Farooq Abdullah had earlier said that his party will not form a pre-poll alliance with any party for the Assembly elections. He told reporters here on August 8, a week before the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the poll scheduled for J&K, “National Conference will not form any pre-poll alliance. We will fight Assembly elections on our own.”

The SeniorAbdullah had reluctantly agreed to forming an electoral alliance with Congress for the recently held Lok Sabha polls. The partners won two seats each while two of the remaining four seats of J&K and Ladakh went to the BJP and two were bagged by independents.

Kashmir watchers say that the Abdullahs are not showing any inclination towards a tie-up with the Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections with the intent to stay in the driver’s seat during the negotiations and bargain for maximum number of seats.

The sources in the Congress said that Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi will arrive in Jammu on Wednesday and after holding a series of meetings with the local party leaders and workers to discuss the poll strategies and obtain their feedback for a possible tie-up with the NC, they will fly to Srinagar the next morning for similar engagements. Before returning to Delhi, they will also meet NC president Farooq Abdullah and his son and deputy in the party Omar Abdullah, the sources added.

Both Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi had had meetings with the party general secretaries, in-charges and screening committee members of four poll-bound states -J&K, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra - on Monday. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a post on ‘X’, “On 21st and 22nd August, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji and Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi ji will be visiting Jammu and Srinagar for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections.”