J&K Ruled By 'Raja' Named LG, Says Rahul Gandhi In Election Rally; Promises Statehood

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed BJP-led central government in a rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban. He kicked off the party’s election campaign in the UT on Wednesday. He addressed two election rallies. The much-awaited assembly polls are crucial for Congress as it has allied with the National Conference. The outcome of the elections will also set a tone for the party as several state elections are scheduled this year and early next year.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir):Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who kickstarted the party's assembly election campaign in both Jammu and Kashmir, Wednesday launched a scathing attack on BJP and Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory, Manoj Sinha.

Addressing a rally in Ramban, Gandhi called the L-G a ‘raja’ (king) and accused the BJP-led central government of giving the benefits meant for the people of J&K to outsiders. “Aaj Jammu-Kashmir mein raja baitha hua hai. Uska naam L-G hai par hai voh raja. (Today, a king sits in Jammu and Kashmir. His name is L-G, but he is a king,” Gandhi said.

“Your wealth is being snatched and given to people from outside. All benefits are being given to outsiders,” he said. Gandhi also promised to restore statehood for the people of J&K as soon as the INDIA bloc came to power in the UT. “We wished for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before the holding of assembly elections but the BJP was not willing and wanted the polls to be held first,” he said.

"We will ensure the return of statehood to the region, whether BJP wants it or not. We will pressurise the government under the banner of the INDIA bloc to ensure its restoration,” the Congress MP added. Gandhi kicked off his party's election campaign in the region ahead of the much-awaited assembly elections.

He addressed two back-to-back rallies in the UT, one was held in Ramban, while the other in Anantnag. Gandhi was accompanied by Congress General Secretary, Bharatsinh Solanki and J&K's Congress chief, Tariq Hameed Karra.

Gandhi's special plane landed at Jammu airport this morning, where he took a helicopter for Sangaldan in Ramban district and addressed the rally, attended by a huge number of party workers and supporters.

Notably, Sangaldan is part of the Banihal assembly seat in the Ramban district of the Jammu division. Former Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief, Vikar Rasool Wani, is the Congress candidate from the constituency. The party has fielded Wani from the seat after the grand old party disagreed on seat-sharing with the National Conference (NC).

In the afternoon, Gandhi headed towards the Dooru Assembly constituency in the Anantnag district of Kashmir and began campaigning in favour of the party candidate, Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

Besides Wani and Mir, another senior Congress leader, Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, is fighting elections in the first phase of the J&K elections. Meanwhile, the rallies attained significance as these kicked off the Congress's electoral campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to polls for the first phase on September 18. Notably, the assembly polls are happening in the politically volatile region after a ten-year hiatus.

The party officials said former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also campaign for the party candidates in J&K. They are among the 40-star campaigners of the party in the UT.

More on the Congress-NC alliance

Congress forged a pre-poll pact with NC, leaving 52 seats open for the regional party while taking 31 for itself in the 90-seat assembly. Both parties also decided to field candidates in Nagrota, Bhaderwah, Banihal, and Doda in the Jammu division, as well as Sopore in the Kashmir division, in what the alliance refers to as a "friendly contest.".

The agreement left two seats open, one for the CPI (M) and one for the Panthers Party. J&K has 90 Assembly seats, 47 in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu. Out of these, nine seats are reserved for ST seats and seven are reserved for SC. The three-phase assembly elections happening after a decade begin September 18.

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