Local leaders also figure in list
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 29: The Indian National Congress (INC) today released list of 27 start campaigners for Jammu and Kashmir including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and two Chief Ministers besides other senior national leaders.
The list of star campaigners for the Parliamentary elections in J&K was submitted by INC general secretary KC Venugopal to the Secretary Election Commission of India.
Besides Kharge and Gandhis, two Chief Ministers including Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana) will also campaign for the Congress candidates in Jammu and Kashmir. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar will also canvass in the UT.
Rahul Gandhi had visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2022 during Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Gandhis had also visited the Kashmir valley for private trip later.
However, this will be first visit of Mallikarjun Kharge to the UT as the Congress president.
Since the Congress is contesting only two Lok Sabha seats in the UT including Jammu-Reasi and Udhampur-Doda, the party campaign is expected to be confined to Jammu division. The Congress has decided to leave three other seats for the INDIA block candidates.
The Congress has fielded its working president Raman Bhalla for Jammu-Reasi seat and Choudhary Lal Singh for Udhampur-Doda constituency.
Other star campaigners of the Congress for Jammu and Kashmir include Ambika Soni, KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bharatsinh Solanki, Pramod Tewari, Pawan Khera, Ranjeet Ranjan, TS Singh Deo, Imran Pratapgarhi, Manoj Yadav, Vikar Rasool Wani, PCC chief, GA Mir, former PCC chief, Tariq Hameed Karra, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Tara Chand, Raman Bhalla, Choudhary Lal Singh, GN Monga, Shameema Raina and Akash Bharat.
Congress hasn’t won a Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir since 2009. In 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Congress won both Jammu and Udhampur seats. However, the party lost the seats to the BJP in 2014 and 2019 elections.
The Congress candidates on Jammu and Udhampur constituencies are being supported by NC and PDP.
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