Srinagar: Following its dismal performance in the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress has constituted an internal fact-finding committee to ascertain the factos behind it drubbing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
But the local leaders are unimpressed with the committee and have demanded that commitee from central leadership should "investigate the challenges faced by the party" in Jammu and Kashmir.
The committe has been set up by the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra and it will be headed by the chief spokesperson of the party and former MLC Ravinder Sharma. It has been asked to submit report within 30 days.
Congress won just six seats out of the 32 assembly constituencies it contested in alliance with National Conference. It won the six seats from Muslim populated constituencies in the Kashmir valley while from the four districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua it drew a blank. The BJP managed to win the Hindu-belt seats.
Congress won a seat in Rajouri where its candidate Iftikhar Ahmad defeated BJP leader Vibodh Gupta, its JK president Tariq Karra won in Central Shalteng in Srinagar, Ghulam Ahmad Mir won from Dooru in Anantnag district, Nizam u Din Bhat from Bandipora, Peerzada Syed from Anantnag and Irfan Hafeez Lone from Wagoori-Kreeri of Baramulla district.
"The Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Tariq Hameed Karra, in consultation with All India Congress Committee leadership, has constituted a fact-finding high-powered committee to ascertain the reasons behind the defeat of the party in the recent Assembly elections, in Jammu regions and to suggest measures for strengthening the party," a Congress spokesperson said.
He said that the senior party leader Ravinder Sharma has been appointed as Chairman of the Committee while Jehangir Mir, Naresh Gupta, Thakur Balwan Singh, Shah Mohd Chowdhary, Ved Mahajan and Dina Nath Baghat are its members.
The Congress has faced flak from its own leaders and cadre about its continuing dismal performance in Jammu and Kashmir in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
However, the local leadership and cadre has expressed dismay over the fact-finding committee and they said that being a national party, the committe must be set up by the centre leadership than the PCC president.
The leaders of the party attribute the defeat to the wrong distribution of tickets by the Jammu and Kashmir leadership, accusing the leadership of "prefering friends over winnable candidates."
"We are demanding a fact finding committee which is comprised of AICC leaders from New Delhi. They will submit a fair and objective report while as the local leaders will show bias towards the PCC leadership of the Jammu and Kashmir," a senior general secretary of the party told ETV Bharat.
Sources in the Congress said that around 29 leaders including senior vice presidents, general Secretaries and district presidents held a meeting on October 15 in Srinagar and passed a resolution (a copy of which lies with ETV Bharat) which was submitted to the Congress president Malikarjun Kharge and demanding a fact finding committee to ascertain the setback in Jammu and Kashmir elections.
Among other important things, the leaders questioned the appointment of Tariq Karra as the PCC president caused "disruption within the party" when the Election Commission had issued notification for conducting Assembly elections in the Union Territory.
Karra, a former PDP leader, replaced Vikar Rasool as PCC president. Vikar lost his elections against the National Conference candidate Sajad Shaheen from Banihal constituency of Ramban district where the alliance was contesting in "friendly" arrangement.
Karra didn't respond to the calls from ETV Bharat. "The leaders have expressed apprehension about the newly appointed PCC President, citing his background in the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and alleged lack of familiarity with Congress culture. The mandates given by the new PCC President in alleged collaboration with PDP and other parties put the Congress in a precarious position," noted the resolution.
The leaders noted "failure to understand the differing political landscapes of Jammu and Kashmir regions contributing to poor performance in Jammu", hinting at ticket distribution in Jammu.
