National Conference, Congress to fight J&K assembly polls together, say restoration of statehood a priority

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 22 (ANI): The National Conference and the Congress will contest the forthcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir together and have formed an alliance.

The formal announcement of the tie-up was made by NC patron Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar on Thursday.

The announcement was made after Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

“The alliance has been finalised and by this evening the details of seat-sharing will be announced. The Alliance is for 90 seats,” Farooq Abdullah said.

“People have suffered much in the last 10 years. Statehood is the prime concern for us. And we want all the powers of the state. Our common program is to fight divisive forces. Our doors are open for all, let’s first win the election. My heart is happy today,” the NC patron added.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi asserted that it was his and his party’s duty to ensure that the people of Jammu and Kashmir get their democratic rights back and that statehood is restored.

Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi said that it is the priority of both the Congress Party and the INDIA alliance to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible.

“We had expected that this would be done before the elections but elections have been declared. It is a step forward and we are hoping that statehood will be restored as soon as possible and the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, democratic rights will be restored to them. This is the first time since independence that a state has become a union territory. This has never happened before. Union territories have become states but it is the first time that a State has become Union Territory. So, we are very clear in our national manifesto as well that it is a priority for us that the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh get their democratic rights back,” he said.

“My message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir is…we can help you, the Congress Party is always there. We understand that you’re going through a very difficult period, a tough period, and we want to remove violence,” he added.

Kharge slammed the BJP-led central government and said that the promises made to Jammu and Kashmir were not fulfilled.

“Our party has decided that under the leadership of Rahulji, we will restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, and we make this promise. So far, Union Territories (UTs) mentioned in the Constitution have been made into states, but Jammu and Kashmir, which was a state, was made into a UT, and today, there is no council, assembly, panchayat, or municipality here. Instead of protecting democracy, it has been dismantled,” he said.

“No matter how much BJP and PM Modi try, they cannot suppress the voice of the people. We will stand with the people and strive to fulfil their aspirations,” Kharge added.

The Congress and the NC had fought the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with each other. The National Conference won two seats – Anantnag and Srinagar. The Congress could not win any seat.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1.

The Election Commission has issued notification for the first phase of assembly seats for 24 seats.

This is the first assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir since abrogation of Article 370