New Delhi: A day after the results came out for Jammu and Kashmir District Development Council (DDC) elections, Congress party accepted that it has performed "below expectations" in the Union Territory, citing the reason that it had been "caught between Jammu and Kashmir".
In the first-ever DDC polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress party has won 26 seats out of the 280 constituencies, while the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) won 110 seats. On the other hand, BJP emerged as the single largest party in the UT by winning 74 seats.
Addressing a virtual press briefing, Congress' senior spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "I agree that our performance is not very good. We have better scope and potential. But we should also consider the difficult situations in which these opposition parties have fought the DDC Elections. Free conduct of election campaigning was obstructed."
"Congress neither believes in any division of valley nor it believes in the divide and rule policy which the BJP does in Jammu. So, it has caught in between Jammu and Kashmir," he further explained.
Singhvi asserted that the party's performance was "below expectations" but "not bad" considering the obstructions it faced and limited time. He said the two regions, Jammu and Kashmir, voted on contrasting issues and the Congress was caught in between.
As expected, the Gupkar Alliance scored in Kashmir and BJP won in Jammu. After winning seats in Kashmir for the first time, BJP said that the "lotus has bloomed" in the valley.
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Before elections, Congress made in clear that it is not going to be a part of the Gupkar Alliance but it also said that it had seat-sharing arrangements with Gupkar members at the district level.
When asked about the post-election alliance, Singhvi said: "No decision has been taken yet over the alliance. But if we talk about Gupkar and BJP, surely we are not going to support BJP."
BJP 'polarizing' in West Bengal: Congress
Singhvi also alleged the BJP is "polarizing" the upcoming West Bengal elections. He even said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) should have joined hands with Congress and left parties to fight back BJP.
"The only aim of BJP is to polarise the elections. All the other parties need to understand their motto and try not to fall in their trap. We need to be alert," he said while attacking BJP.
He added, "It is my personal opinion that all three parties should join hands. In Parliament, Left parties and TMC have coordination. It is unfortunate that it is not possible in elections. But I don't think it would benefit BJP."
As the Election fight has begun in the state, it has been said that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to visit West Bengal every month and will stay there for a week. BJP has been consistently performing well in Bengal and is setting up for a direct contest with ruling BJP, but Congress has some other point of view.
"There is no place for BJP in West Bengal as it is being considered as a foreign party in the state. These elections would be TMC vs Congress-Left alliance. Surely, BJP would try to polarize these elections. But until we will remain alert, this won't help them in elections," Singhvi said.
