J&K polls: By allying with NC, does Cong want stone-pelting back, asks MP CM

Indore, Aug 25 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday asked the Congress if it wanted to bring back the era of stone pelting in Jammu-Kashmir by allying with the National Conference for the assembly polls there.

Polls to the 90-member J-K assembly will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1, while results will be announced on October 4.

NC chief Farooq Abdullah has announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to the polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

“Does the Congress want to push Jammu-Kashmir back into the era of stone-pelting with this electoral alliance? The Congress has abandoned constitutional values and is working only on the basis of vote bank politics,” said Yadav, who was here as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s membership campaign workshop.

“Everybody knows the character of the National Conference and Farooq Abdullah. Does the Congress want to take Jammu-Kashmir back to the times of unrest by advocating talks with Pakistan,” he further asked.

Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference’s 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls. It has also advocated confidence-building measures (CBMs) and regional cooperation between India and Pakistan.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were last held in November 2014.

On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganised the erstwhile state into two Union territories — Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Congress-led opposition alliance ‘INDIA bloc’ includes both the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mehbooba Mufti.