Srinagar: The seat-sharing arrangement among the Congress, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), all members of the INDIA alliance, would be finalised next week, the Congress said on Thursday. The party asserted that the INDIA alliance would defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference here, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Vikar Rasool Wani said, “Rahul Gandhi has told me that the first step in the first week of the INDIA alliance government at the Centre will be the restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.”
When the security situation is suitable for parliamentary elections, why is it not suitable for the Assembly elections? The Supreme Court has already given directions to conduct elections before September 2024. If Lok Sabha elections are held in March & April, holding elections again in September will cost the exchequer? —Vikar Rasool Wani, President, JKPCC
“We are committed to restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood within the first week of forming the government, along with the guarantees regarding employment and land rights,” he added.
He criticised the BJP for ‘not honouring' the constitutional rights of Jammu and Kashmir and accused it of not holding elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the past seven years.
He said the BJP was forced to hold parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir as these were mandatory, but it was hesitating to hold Assembly elections. He said the BJP cites security concerns when it comes to the Assembly elections.
He questioned, “When the security situation is suitable for parliamentary elections, why is it not suitable for the Assembly elections?”
Rasool said the Supreme Court had already given directions to conduct elections before September 2024. “If parliamentary elections would be held in March and April, there is no reason to delay Assembly elections. Besides, holding elections again in September will cost the exchequer,” he suggested.
He asked “Why hold Assembly elections three months after the parliamentary elections? Why not hold them now?”
Talking about the preparedness of the INDIA alliance, the Congress UT president said, “The Congress and its INDIA alliance partners are prepared to contest and win the elections. In the coming days, a seat-sharing arrangement between Congress, PDP and the National Conference will emerge and we will sweep the UT.”
It is worth mentioning that it was the first time that the PDP came into the discourse. The National Conference was only naming Congress as a potential alliance partner when it came to seat sharing for the past few weeks.
Of six seats of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah have been insisting on retaining the present three seats that they had won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and asking for sharing seat for the remaining three segments only.
Rasool said there would be a fair seat-sharing arrangement, carried out with mutual support and they would achieve electoral success.
Slamming the BJP for its track record in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader said, “They have revoked special status, downgraded the state into a union territory and suppressed dissent.”
He said he had full faith in the determination of people to retaliate through the ballot box. “The BJP has betrayed the trust of the people. Their promises ring hollow, and their rallies lack genuine public support,” he asserted. He said that the BJP's defeat in Jammu and Kashmir would serve as a reminder of their failure to uphold the aspirations of the people.
