‘Restoring statehood most important, there’ll be an alliance,’ says Rahul Gandhi Srinagar ahead of J-K assembly polls

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge met party workers in poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, August 22. Gandhi, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that representation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and its statehood is paramount in the Union Territory.

“You are not workers, you are family. As soon as we came to know that elections were going to be held, we decided to come here to Jammu and Kashmir because we wanted to send a message to the people of every state that for us the representation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir “And its statehood is the most important thing,” Gandhi told party workers in Srinagar on Thursday, on his second visit to the UT.

The PDP-BJP government formed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 could not last for the full six-year term as the BJP withdrew its support to the former prime minister. Mehbooba Mufti‘s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018. Since then, the former state has been under central government.

In 2019, the Modi government repealed Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Gandhi repeated his comments at a press conference held later in Srinagar. Earlier, Kharge, addressing the media, said the Congress party will strive to restore Jammu and KashmirThe status of State of.

“Elections have been announced due to the Supreme Court’s directions to hold elections before September 30, 2024. But I want to tell Modi sahab and the BJP that they will not succeed in suppressing the voices of the people. The Congress party is with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and will fight for their expectations,” Kharge said.

Gandhi, Kharge and other leaders are in Jammu and Kashmir on a two-day visit to take stock of the party’s preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in the Union Territory and explore a possible alliance with the National Conference (NC). The leaders will leave for Jammu on Thursday.

“There will be an alliance (for the Assembly elections) but it will be with the respect of the Congress workers,” Gandhi told the workers, according to a media report.

He Assembly elections in three phases In UT, the first round is scheduled to begin on September 18. The other two rounds are scheduled for September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 4.

“In the history of India, after independence, many union territories have been made into states, but there is only one example where statehood was taken away from them and a union territory was created. This has never happened before and we want to convey this message that representation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is important, it is important for us and it is important for the country,” Gandhi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

In his speech, Kharge He mentioned that Rahul Gandhi is related to Jammu and Kashmir by blood and appealed to the voters saying that their votes are needed to save the country, culture and rights of citizens.

“If we win the elections in J&K, the whole of India will come under our control… As Raul Gandhi Kharge said his relationship with J&K is not limited to likes or dislikes. He is related to J&K by blood… We hope that J&K will support us in the upcoming elections,” Kharge said.

The BJP is always the one to decide where and when to start elections, the Congress president said. “All their anger and frustration is directed only against the Congress because no other party is putting up a tough fight. The only one who dares to fight is Rahul Gandhi… We need his votes to save the country, to save its culture and its rights…” Kharge said.

Rahul and Kharge He will receive feedback from party workers on the grassroots level preparations for the elections to be held in the UT after a gap of ten years.