New Delhi: The Congress expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc would form a government in Jammu and Kashmir and attributed the presence of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, resurgence of the grand-old-party and the seat-sharing pact with the National Conference (NC) as key factors behind the assessment.
Elections for the 90 assembly seats in Jammu & Kashmir were held on September 18, 25 and October 1. The results would be out on October 8. The INDIA bloc needs 46 seats to form a government.
"After the three-phased polling, we can say that the INDIA bloc is set to form a government in Jammu & Kashmir. I would not like to talk about the numbers at this point but the alliance will get a comfortable majority," All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Yadav told ETV Bharat.
"We contested most of our seats during the first and the final phases. We are happy over the enthusiasm shown by the voters. The alliance kept the focus of the elections on local issues which brought in the voters who were fed up with over a decade of central rule. The BJP's votes went down in their so-called strongholds in the Jammu region," he said.
According to the party insiders, three factors played a crucial role in pushing the Congress and the alliance forward in the border UT.
"The foremost reason was the presence of Leader of Opposition (in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi, in whom people saw a representative of their voice which had not been heard over the past decade. He had been speaking for the rights of the people of the Union Territory when all others had gone silent. The voters remembered this and responded positively during the elections," said Yadav.
"The second reason was the resurgence of the Congress party which had suffered a blow after the exit of veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad in August 2022. Azad had taken away all the senior leaders along with him. It was very difficult for the grand-old-party to revive in Jammu & Kashmir but we were able to do it. The 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' ending in Srinagar certainly helped towards that goal. In fact, this revival gave the Congress a pole position and made the others realise that the grand-old-party could not be ignored," he said.
Congress insiders said the seat-sharing pact with the National Conference was received well by the locals who wanted the alliance to be forged but the grand-old-party was prepared to go solo if needed and had identified candidates on all the 90 seats.
"We were prepared for any situation," said Yadav. The AICC functionary dismissed the DPAP of Ghulam Nabi Azad and expressed doubts over the prospects of Lok Sabha member Sheikh Abdul Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party.
"Azad’s party will not get any seats. Their senior leaders contested as independent candidates as they sensed public mood. As far as Sheikh Abdul Rashid's party is concerned anyone can contest elections but the voters had lots of doubts over its role. The situation will become clearer on October 8," Yadav added. The AICC functionary appreciated the role of PDP saying, "They fought a balanced election."
