Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Aug 20: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will arrive Srinagar tomorrow for the key meetings in preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections in the Jammu and Kashmir.
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Their crucial visit to J&K comes after Congress president, Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi met general secretaries/ In-charges and Screening Committee members of four poll-bound States on Monday.
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“On August 21 and 22, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Srinagar and Jammu for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections,” Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said on X.
Congress national general secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir said, “Party president, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir for two days, starting tomorrow. They will arrive Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon”.
Mir said that during their stay, they will engage in extensive meetings with leaders and party functionaries in Jammu and Srinagar, aiming to energize and strengthen the party cadre. In Jammu, the party meeting has been fixed at around 2 pm in Marble Market area of Trikuta Nagar Extension on Thursday.
After their interaction in Jammu with the party functionaries/delegates, they will fly to Delhi on Thursday evening.
Party sources said that during stay at Srinagar, their meeting with the National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah can not be ruled out.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday, top Congress leaders deliberated upon preparation for elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra, and issued guidelines for selecting candidates.
It is expected that the Central Election Committee meeting for Jammu and Kashmir would take place in the next couple of days. The senior Congress leaders including K C Venugopal and AICC general secretary G A Mir have already said that party was open for an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir and its main objective was to keep the BJP out of Government.
Newly-appointed Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief, Tariq Hameed Karra on Monday at Srinagar and even in Jammu said that the party is open to talks with like-minded parties to strike a ‘respectable alliance’ for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections but the parameters for such a tie-up would be different from the Lok Sabha elections.
The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 4 and the results will also be declared the same day.
A party spokesman said that in solidarity with the SC/ ST organisations call for Bharat Bandh tomorrow, the programme of the Congress President, and LOP Rahul Gandhi has been rescheduled.
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