Rahul Gandhi to launch J&K poll campaign of Congress with Ramban, Anantnag rallies

New Delhi [India], September 4 (ANI): Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will address two public rallies in Ramban and Anantnag districts on Wednesday, kickstarting the Congress’ campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls which is being held after a gap of 10 years.

These rallies are part of the campaign for the party’s candidates contesting in the first phase of the elections on September 18.

The Congress leader departed from his residence this morning for his visit to the union territory.

Tight security arrangements have been made in the Anantnag district ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally.

Visuals from the area in Anantnag show security deployed in the area where the rally will take place today.

Earlier on August 27, Congress candidate from Dooru Assembly constituency, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, filed his nomination for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls and said that the people are suffocated by the torture of the BJP and that’s why the INDIA bloc has always demanded democracy in the region.

While, BJP Candidate from Banihal Assembly, Saleem Bhat said that if they want peace and prosperity then the people of the constituency should make BJP win.

The Congress party on Monday released its second list of six candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress has fielded Tariq Hameed Karra from the Central Shalteng constituency, Mumtaz Khan from the Reasi constituency, Bhupender Jamwal from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency, Iftkar Ahmed from Rajouri (ST) constituency, Shabir Ahmad Khan from Thannamandi (ST) constituency and Mohd Shahnawaz Choudhary from Surankote (ST) constituency.

In the election, prominent leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir will contest from Dooru, while Vikar Rasool Wani will run from Banihal. Peerzada Mohd Syed will stand for the Anantnag constituency, and Sheikh Riaz will contest the Doda seat.

The party has fielded Surinder Singh Channi for the Tral seat, Amanullah Mantoo for Devsar, Shaikh Zafarullah for Inderwal, Nadeem Sharief for Bhadarwah, and Pradeep Kumar Bhagat for Doda West.

Congress and the National Conference have allied for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the seat-sharing formula between the two parties, the National Conference (NC) will contest 51 of the 90 seats, and the Congress will contest 32. The two parties will also contest five seats against each other. They have left one seat each for the CPI (M) and the Panthers Party.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has also extended its support to the Congress and National Conference alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir polls.

Jammu and Kashmir has 90 assembly constituencies, with 7 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 9 for Scheduled Tribes (STs).

In the previous Assembly elections, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12.

These upcoming elections will be the first in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.