J&K Congress Leaders Reject Internal Committee to Probe Poll Debacle, Demand AICC Investigation

Jammu & Kashmir Congress leaders reject internal committee set up by Tariq Karra, demand AICC investigation for election debacle, writes ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat.

Srinagar:A day after the Congress president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit set up a fact-finding committee to probe the reasons behind the party's debacle in Assembly elections, dozens of leaders of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Sunday rejected it and demanded the central leadership to investigate.

The committee was set up by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Tariq Karra on Thursday after the Congress managed to win only six seats in Muslim-populated constituencies of the Kashmir Valley and one seat of Rajouri while getting routed in Hindu-populated constituencies in the Jammu province.

The committee to be headed by PCC chief spokesperson and former MLC Ravinder Sharma had to find facts of its poll debacle and submit its report within 30 days.

"In a significant development within the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, senior party leaders and office bearers convened an emergency meeting today to conduct a comprehensive review of the party's recent electoral performance. The high-level meeting, attended by senior leaders, JKPCC Vice Presidents, JKPCC, General Secretaries, JKPCC Secretaries, District Presidents, Working Presidents and other senior leaders and senior office bearers, unanimously rejected the fact-finding committee constituted by the current PCC president (Tariq Karra)," a statement issued by the leaders said.

Confirming the holding of the meeting, senior vice-president of PCC and former MLC GN Monga said the leaders rejected the fact-finding committee constituted by the Pradesh Congress Committee president.

"According to the constitution of the Congress, a state president cannot constitute a fact-finding committee. The committee can only be constituted by the Central Congress leadership and its members must be from the central team," Monga told ETV Bharat.

The statement said that the party veterans emphasised that only the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has the constitutional authority to investigate such matters.

"The formation of a fact-finding committee by the PCC President is beyond his jurisdiction and violates established party protocols," they said.

Karra and several Congress leaders in Jammu and Kashmir are under severe pressure from the leaders and party cadre as they blame them for the poll debacle.

Congress contested 32 assembly constituencies, six of them in Kashmir Valley and 26 in the Jammu region, but won only five in the valley and one in Rajouri, in alliance with National Conference. This result was a major setback for the party in the Jammu region as it was routed in four districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua--the Hindu-populated constituencies of the Union Territory.

Congress also faced defeat in the parliament elections in Udhampur and Kathua parliamentary constituencies despite having a lead in 20 Assembly segments in those elections. The debacle in Parliament elections saw the ouster of Vikar Rasool from the PCC president's post as he was replaced by Karra during the Assembly elections.

However, Karra’s leadership is under severe criticism from the party cadre, who accuse him of being an "outsider". Karra, who was among the PDP founders, resigned from the party in 2017 when he was an MP. He joined the Congress in New Delhi and became its president in the Jammu and Kashmir unit.

He won the Central Shalteng seat in Srinagar in alliance with NC, but the party leaders blame him and other senior leaders for the poll debacle. Karra could not be reached for his response despite attempts by ETV Bharat.