J&K Congress leaders to meet Kharge, discuss Lok Sabha election preparations

New Delhi [India], December 25 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Congress leaders are scheduled to meet party leadership in the national capital on Tuesday to discuss election preparedness for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

As per sources, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal, will be present in the meeting.

The Congress has said that it disagrees with the manner in which the government abrogated Article 370, which conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Supreme Court has said that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, which was bifurcated into two UTs during the process of abrogating Article 370, should be held by September next year.

“We respectfully disagree with the judgment on the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated, Congress leader P Chidambaram had said in a press conference.

“We reiterate the CWC (Congress Working Committee) resolution that Article 370 deserved to be honoured until it was amended strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India,” he added.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on December 11 unanimously upheld the validity of the Union government’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, while pointing out that Article 370 is a “temporary provision”.

Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May this year. Congress, National Conference and PDP are part of INDIA alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.