Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday. They will spend two days in Jammu and Kashmir and take stock of the party’s preparations for the 2024 assembly elections.
Gandhi and Kharge can also explore the Possibility of forging an alliance with Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference.
Congress posted a video on X on Wednesday to share glimpses of the moment when Gandhi and Kharge arrived in Srinagar“Congress President Shri Kharge and Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi received a warm welcome in Srinagar,” the party’s post on X read.
The grand party also informed that Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will address Congress workers in Srinagar and Jammu on Thursday, August 22.
President of the Congress Shri @kharge and leader of the opposition Shri @RahulGandhi Warm welcome to Srinagar.
Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and Shri Rahul Gandhi will address the Congress workers in Srinagar and Jammu tomorrow.
📍 Jammu and Kashmir image.twitter.com/0rPcWSrS1w
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 21, 2024
Congress leaders received a warm welcome on their arrival and party activists and supporters lined up outside the airport. The enthusiastic supporters even stopped Gandhi’s vehicle on the airport road, leading to some anxious moments among the security personnel escorting him.
Gandhi and Kharge are likely to hold key meetings in connection with the three-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir beginning on September 18, a senior Congress leader told news agency PTI.
“There was no official meeting scheduled between the two leaders for Wednesday,” he said.
According to the report, the two leaders will hold extensive talks with party leaders and workers from 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley on Thursday. The meetings will begin at 10 am, after which both are likely to interact with the media in Srinagar.
After completing the interactions in Srinagar, Gandhi and Kharge will fly to Jammu for further interactions with the cadres of 10 districts of Jammu region.
The two leaders will take input from party workers on the grassroots level preparations for the elections being held in the UT after a gap of ten years, a Congress leader said.
“This programme was decided even before the election dates were declared and only the dates were to be finalised. This programme by Rahul Ji and the party president is aimed at interacting with the party workers so that they are here,” Karra told reporters outside the Lalit Hotel, where the Congress’s central leaders are staying.
Alliance with North Carolina in play?
The two Congress leaders could also meet National Conference (NC) Leadership to discuss a possible pre-poll alliance, party sources told PTI.
However, Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee president Tariq Karra said the visit of the two leaders had been planned long before the election schedule was announced. “This visit has no connection with (the discussions on) the alliance,” he added.
When asked about any invitations to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) At a meeting with the leaders, Karra said that such things happen after internal discussions and decisions within the party. “I cannot say anything about it,” he added.
Karra said Congress’s position is that “we are open.” [for alliance] “We are ready to talk to all the forces, parties and people who are opposed to the BJP,” he said. “We are ready to talk to all the parties that think like us.”
The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases: September 18, September 25, and October 1The results of the Jammu and Kashmir elections will be announced on October 4. The elections will be held for 90 assembly seats in the Union Territory.
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