New Delhi: The Congress was upbeat at over 61 per cent polling in phase 1 of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections on September 18 and viewed it as a vote for change. Accordingly, the Congress managers are planning to deploy star campaigners Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, ahead of the remaining phases on September 25 and October 1 during which they expect the polling percentage to go up.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who brought the Congress and the National Conference together for the Assembly elections, had launched the Congress campaign by addressing two rallies in Banihal and Dooru Assembly seats on September 4 before leaving for his US trip. He is now back and will join the campaign soon.
“We are very excited over the phase 1 polling at 61 per cent. This is a vote for change. The people are fed up over the indirect BJP rule in Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 years. They are coming out in support of the INDIA bloc,” AICC secretary in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Yadav told ETV Bharat.
“We expect the polling percentage to go up in the remaining two phases and are making a lot of preparations for it. Our leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will certainly campaign over the coming days,” said Yadav.
On September 21, Kharge will address a rally in Chhamb and later do a presser in Jammu. The AICC functionary slammed the claims related to development made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed two rallies in Union Territory Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday saying if that was correct the youth would not be suffering a high unemployment rate of 23 per cent and the number of terrorist attacks would not have spiked in the Jammu region over the past few months.
“The PM is making false claims. They have been in control of the erstwhile state for 10 years, but did not do any work. Now people, who have been suffering are looking up to the INDIA bloc to bring development back to the border region. If the PM was correct about curbing terrorism in the past five years, what explained an attack in Kishtwar the day he addressed a rally in Doda? The number of attacks in the Jammu region over the past three months reveals the truth,” said Yadav.
“As many as 12 soldiers were martyred in Jammu & Kashmir in terrorist attacks in July 2024 alone, and Reasi itself saw a dastardly attack on a civilian bus on June 9. The Centre has failed to stabilise the security situation in the region,” he said. The Congress leader said the locals were responding to the INDIA bloc campaign very well as it reflected aspirations.
“If the BJP was so confident of its development work in the Union Territory in the past five years, why did it not field any candidates in the Lok Sabha elections? This time, too, I don’t see them winning a single seat in Kashmir. Their leaders are finding it difficult to campaign in the Jammu region and there, too, the saffron party’s tally would come down. The fact that the PM is focusing so much on Jammu & Kashmir shows the challenge they are facing from the INDIA bloc,” said Yadav.
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