Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The National Conference-Congress are facing a turmoil within its alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir as several leaders have revolted and are now contesting as independents against the alliance candidates.
In Srinagar, Ganderbal, Tral and Shopian assembly constituencies, former Congress and National Conference leaders have filed nominations against the alliance candidates after being denied the ticket. This move could divide the votes of the two partners and may give setback to their wining prospects; atleast in Tral and Shopian segments.
Waseem Shalla, who was Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) general secretary in Jammu and Kashmir, has resigned from the party and filed nomination as an independent. Shalla is contesting from Khanyar assembly constituency against NC general secretary and six time legislator Ali Muhammad Sagar.
“The alliance with National Conference was decided by the Congress leadership against the interests of Congress leaders in Kashmir. We had informed the party leadership against forming an alliance with the NC,” said Shalla, who was a close worker of Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
Likewise, Imtiyaz Khan, who was the district president of the PCC in Srinagar, also resigned from the party and is contesting in the Eidgah assembly segment against NC candidate Mubarak Gul.
Gul is the two time legislator of NC from Eidgah, while Khan has been active in the segment from the last several years as a Congress activist.
“My workers pressured me to join the contest as an independent; they are even helping me monetarily. Our local leadership should have taken us on board before finalising the alliance with the NC,” Khan told ETV Bharat.
Asif Beigh, who was a Congress municipal councillor from Habakadal, has resigned and is contesting against National Conference two time woman legislator Shamima Firdous.
“In the seat sharing arrangement, we should have got 4 seats at least, but our leadership agreed for one seat for PCC new president Tariq Karra. My workers told me to contest irrespective of whether I win or lose,” Beigh told ETV Bharat.
Sahil Farooq resigned as the district president of the PCC from Ganderbal and is contesting on the segment as an independent against former chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah.
Manzoor Ahmad, a District Development Council member of the party from Srinagar, said that he has not resigned from the party but has filed nomination to contest as an independent candidate from Lal Chowk assembly constituency. Ahmad, who lives in Khonmoh area in the city outskirts, is also DDC from the same area.
A senior Congress leader said that these activists have been in the party but do not have ground support to win the assembly elections.
"They should have respected the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ji's decision who came down to Srinagar and stitched the alliance with NC for the larger interests of Jammu and Kashmir and the country. But these wannabe leaders disrespected his decision and the party will not accept them in its fold after elections," the leader told ETV Bharat, wishing not to be named.
He said that the Congress party does not have voter support in Srinagar city so that it can win seats on its own. "Our new president had won the Batmaloo seat with PDP as he has support in that segment; so the leadership negotiated with NC well and got that seat for the party. Srinagar is otherwise a stronghold of the National Conference. We are sure to win this seat," the Congress leader added.
In the city' Shalteng seat, renamed from Batmaloo, NC leader and former MLA Irfan Shah, the son of later leader Ghulam Mohidin Shah, has filed his nomination against JKPCC Chief Tariq Hameed Karra, who was given the seat as part of the pre-poll alliance understanding. Karra has defeated Shah in 2002 and in 2014 Karra's aide Noor Muhammad Sheikh defeated Shah.
In the National Conference, there is turmoil within the party over seat sharing, largely in Poonch. Its new entrant Akram Choudhary, the son of Congress stalwart late Aslam Choudhary, is contesting as independent against the alliance candidate Shahnawaz Choudhary in Surankote assembly segment.
Akram Choudhary was Congress MLA from Surankote seat in 2014, but he quit the party in 2020 and joined Apni Party of business-magnate Altaf Bukhari. During parliament elections he made another jump and joined NC in anticipation of getting a ticket for assembly elections. However, when the Congress and NC decided to contest in alliance, Akram's dreams fell flat and he decided to contest as an Independent. Akram is the cousin of National Conference Gujjar leader and MP Mian Altaf. Both Shahnawaz and Akram have considerable support of the voters in the segment.
In Dooru, NC denied ticket to former judge Syed Touqeer and the seat went to Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir. Mir has won the Dooru seat twice but lost it in 2014 to PDP candidate Syed Farooq Andrabi, who is the maternal uncle of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti.
Sources said Touqeer is annoyed and may ask his workers to vote against Mir. However, Mir exuded confidence by saying that people of Dooru will entrust him with their representation and any opposition will not work against him.
Significantly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a big public rally in Dooru on Wednesday which was attended by NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah. Farooq's presence with Rahul has sent the message to NC workers that they should vote Mir, and this will negate all the opposition of Syed Touqeer, who is a new entrant to politics.
Shabir Kullay, former NC leader from Shopian and NC leader Dr Ghulam Nabi Bhat from Tral have revolted against the party and are contesting as independents against the party candidates.
Congress and NC have formed the alliance as per the INDIA bloc's seat sharing agreement and shared the 90 seats between them. NC is contesting 51 seats, majority of them in the Valley, while Congress got 32; on five seats the parties will field their candidates and contest against each other as a “friendly contest”. Two seats have been shared with CPI(M) leader Yousuf Tarigami and Harshdev Singh of National Panthers Party (NPP).
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