New Delhi : The Congress on Sunday said that all options on having a pre-poll alliance with the National Conference or not were open ahead of the crucial Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls likely in September.
The Congress and the NC had a pre-poll alliance for the five parliamentary seats in UT J&K and the lone seat in UT Ladakh in the Lok Sabha polls and it was expected that the pact would also extend to the assembly polls. However, the going alone line has recently gained prominence within the grand old party, said party insiders.
That, in a way, explained the recent remarks made by J&K Congress chief Viqar Rasool Wani, who said that the grand old party preferred to fight the coming assembly polls on its strength.
Rasool further said the last time the Congress had an alliance with any regional party was in 1986. He also said that the Congress was the only party which had a presence across the border UT and therefore would be in a position to lead the next government.
When asked, AICC in charge of Jammu and Kashmir Bharatsinh Solanki responded by saying that the state unit chief’s comments might have been made keeping in mind the views of the local leaders but clarified that the alliance issue was still being discussed within the party.
“All options are open at this point. We are in the process of obtaining ground-level feedback. A final decision would be made by the high command after factoring in the feedback from the state unit,” Solanki told ETV Bharat.
The AICC functionary further said that the Congress was in the process of firming up a ‘people’s manifesto’ for the UT and was conducting a massive public outreach to obtain public feedback on the lines of the Lok Sabha polls manifesto.
“We are going to every nook and corner of the UT to get public views on their issues and what they expect from the grand old party. The manifesto would reflect the aspirations of the people,” said Solanki.
As part of the outreach, workers' conclaves are being held in districts like Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar, Banihal, Ramban, Gool, Reasi, RS Pura and Samba areas, said party insiders.
The Congress and the NC contested three seats in the national polls. The NC won two seats in the Kashmir valley while the Congress could not win any seat. However, after the polls, Independent Ladakh MP Mohamad Hanifa Jan supported the Congress in the House.
The BJP was able to retain the two seats Udhampur and Jammu that fall under the Jammu region. The Congress tried hard to win in the Jammu region but had to be satisfied only with an increased vote share which has given the party the hope for the coming assembly contest. According to party insiders, in the Udhampur parliamentary seat, the party’s vote share increased from 31 per cent to 41 per cent while that of the BJP dropped from 61 per cent to 51 per cent this time.
“The electorate behaves differently in the national and assembly polls in which the local issues become important. We are confident of doing well in the coming contest,” said Solanki.
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