Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Thursday said that an alliance will be formed for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir – “while maintaining the respect of the Congress party workers”. Addressing a workers’ meeting in Srinagar alongside Congress president Malikarjun Kharge, Gandhi said that the party workers have “dedicated their whole lives to protecting the Congress ideology and carrying forward the party’s line of thinking. I am aware of the difficulties you have dealt with”. He said that the party leadership has told PCC president Tariq Hameed Karra that an alliance for the upcoming elections will not compromise on the Congress workers’ and leaders’ respect. He said that issues that plague people in other states of the country, such as unemployment, also affect the youth of J&K. “We have dealt a blow to Narendra Modi’s confidence after the Lok Sabha polls. It was the ideology of the Congress and the India alliance that made this happen. This was done respectfully, we did not use any bad words against them,” he said. The party leadership is on a two-day visit to J&K, and after concluding their visit in Srinagar, Gandhi and Kharge are travelling to Jammu on Thursday. While he refrained from mentioning Article 370, Gandhi said, “It is a priority of the Congress party and also the India alliance to restore statehood in J&K as soon as possible.” He said that while it was expected that this could be done prior to the assembly polls, “elections have been declared and it is a step forward and we are hoping that statehood will be restored as soon as possible and the democratic rights of the people of J&K will be restored”. Highlighting that it is the first time since Independence that a state has been downgraded to a union territory, Gandhi said, “We were very clear in our national manifesto as well that it is a priority for us that the people of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh get their democratic rights back.” Flanked by Kharge and senior leader K C Venugopal, Gandhi said that the party will “help” the people of J&K, however they can. “The Congress party is always there. We understand that you are going through a very difficult period, a tough period. We want to remove violence,” he said. In his statement, Kharge said, "This was the first meeting after the polls were announced. We are here to seek the views of local leaders and workers for the elections and an alliance. Rahul ji is interested in taking everyone along in this election.” He said that a big achievement of the India alliance has been to “stop a dictator from achieving brute majority”. Speaking on the announcement of elections in J&K after a six-year delay, Kharge said, “They downgraded the state of J&K into a UT and then people were not given any rights. There is no legislative council, no panchayat or municipality. The people have been kept away from democracy.” He added that the elections have finally been announced but only on the directions of the Supreme Court in its December 2023 judgement. The Congress president said that the party will work towards addressing unemployment, investment and protections for “jal, jungle, zameen” of the people of J&K. “They are trying to snatch these from you but we will not allow them to do it,” Kharge said. Congress leaders met with Farooq and Omar Abdullah at their residence to discuss details of an alliance with the National Conference. "Our alliance is on track. We have discussed seats as well, it is final. By evening we will sign this and it is for all 90 seats," NC president Farooq Abdullah said. He expressed hope that statehood will be restored with all powers soon. “Our common programme is to fight election to defeat the divisive forces that exist in the country,” he said.
