Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2024: Rahul, Kharge meet Abdullahs, discuss Congress-NC alliance

In his address to party workers, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that his party was keen on an alliance but “not at the cost of the respect of Congress workers”. (PTI photo)

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday called on the National Conference leadership in Srinagar for a possible pre-poll alliance for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.

The two top Congress leaders are in Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the party’s poll preparedness and discuss the prospects of a pre-poll alliance with INDIA bloc partners.

On Thursday, Rahul and Kharge held an interaction with party workers. Soon after the meeting, the duo drove to the residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah at Gupkar Road.

A Congress party leader told news agency PTI that the visiting leaders are meeting the Abdullahs to discuss a possible pre-poll alliance for the assembly polls. The two parties have been holding deliberations at the local level for the alliance, he added.

An NC leader said that the parties have had three rounds of discussions over the alliance and discussed seat-sharing between them.

"The discussions were held in a cordial manner and we are hopeful of an alliance," the NC leader said, adding that any decision on forging the pre-poll alliance will be taken by the leadership of both the parties.

Interacting with the media before meeting the NC leadership, Rahul emphasised that Congress was keen on forming an alliance but “not at the cost of the respect of Congress workers”.

The two parties had contested the Lok Sabha polls together as part of the INDIA bloc with the Congress losing both the seats in Jammu, while NC lost one of the three it contested in the Kashmir valley.

During his interaction, Rahul said that restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest was a priority for the Congress as well as the INDIA bloc. “We had expected that this would be done prior to the elections but elections have been declared. It is a step forward and we are hoping that statehood would be restored as soon as possible and the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored,” he said.

“My message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir is, however we can help you, the Congress Party is always there. We understand that you're going through a very difficult period, a tough period, and we want to remove violence," he added.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 4.