By Rahil Nora Chopra
With the Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir approaching, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, on Thursday, paid a visit to the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah, where the Congress-NC alliance has been finalized on all 90 seats in the Union territory. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said the Congress and the NC are together and the CPM is also with the alliance. “Tarigami sahab (CPM's MY Tarigami) is also with us. I hope that our people are with us so that we can win and do better for the people.” However, the NC seems to have rebuffed Rahul Gandhi's desire for a wider alliance that includes Mehbooba Mufti's PDP. Although the two parties have sealed the alliance, sources said, the challenges on the seat-sharing front remain. Mehbooba Mufti's PDP is part of the INDIA bloc but was not included in the alliance for the Lok Sabha polls after the NC leaders shot down the proposal. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi favoured restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and said it was the first time in history that a state had been reduced to a UT. “We hope statehood will be restored as soon as possible,” he said.
