New Delhi: The Congress played down the recent critical remarks of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the grand old party’s stand against the EVMs, but the high command is seized of the matter. The Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister noted that it was not proper for the Congress to blame the EVMs for electoral losses in the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Congress insiders said the high command had taken note of Omar Abdullah’s remarks, including his praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for building a new Parliament building, but there was no major stress on the INDIA bloc over the issue. Abdullah’s party National Conference is a part of the Bloc.
Though the Bloc had come to power in the Union Territory over an anti-BJP sentiment, the Congress, which did badly in the Jammu region, chose not to join the Omar Abdullah government. Later, the Union Territory unit of the Congress distanced itself from the NC’s stand in favour of Article 370, which was abrogated by the BJP-led Centre in 2019.
“What he said is up to him. When the Election Commission will say something, we will comment and not on what other political parties say,” AICC in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir Bharatsinh Solanki told ETV Bharat. According to Congress insiders, the Chief Minister making such critical remarks about the ally and lauding the Centre could be sound politically correct being in power. They noted that the NC had benefited by slamming BJP’s former ally PDP during the Assembly elections and it would be difficult for them to align with the Centre now.
“The high command is seized of the matter and may come out with its views in due course, but as of now, there is no stress in the alliance. The allies are having normal interactions. In fact, it cannot be denied that the NC benefitted from being an ally of the grand old party during the crucial Assembly elections,” an AICC functionary said.
“We do not know why that statement was made. We are not in the government, but we need to clarify it with the ally as our national president has already spoken on the EVMs issue. We informed our central leaders of the matter,” Jammu & Kashmir Congress working president Raman Bhalla told ETV Bharat.
The party insiders further said that the Congress was in the process of regrouping in the border UT after dissolving the various committees and it was prudent not to precipitate a crisis at this juncture. Over the past few days, Jammu & Kashmir unit chief Tariq Hameed Karra has been travelling across key Jammu regions to discuss organisational issues with the local teams and has been exhorting them to fight the divisive forces. He has also led protests demanding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir, which connects with the masses.
“The exercise to recast the panels is on and will take some more time. It is likely to be concluded by January 2025. We are preparing for the local body elections and are identifying the local issues as we don’t raise divisive issues like the saffron party,” said Bhalla.
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