Cong-NC alliance likely, discussion on seat sharing on
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Aug 21 : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge this evening reached Srinagar for a two-day visit to take stock of the party’s preparations for the Assembly polls and forging an alliance with National Conference (NC).
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Gandhi and Kharge are exploring the possibility of forging an alliance with the NC and they are likely to meet NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah tomorrow morning.
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Sources said that Congress and NC leaders are in touch over the seat sharing and a meeting was held this evening at a local hotel. Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra, former president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, senior leaders Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla represented the Congress and NC general secretary, Ali Mohammad Sagar, senior leaders Nasir Aslam Wani and Ajay Sadhotra represented the NC in the meeting.
The meeting lasted for several hours and Congress demanded a dozen seats from Kashmir and are offering equal number of seats to the NC in Jammu. However, NC leaders were reluctant to leave so many seats from Valley to the Congress. Later, the NC leaders met Abdullahs on seat sharing with Congress and discussed the Congress demand with them.
The Congress posted a video on X on Wednesday to share glimpses of the moment when Gandhi and Kharge reached Srinagar. “Congress president Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi received a warm welcome in Srinagar,” the party’s post on X read.
Kharge and Gandhi will address Congress workers in Srinagar and Jammu on tomorrow and are likely to address a press conference in Srinagar.
The Congress leaders received a rousing welcome upon their arrival here with party activists and supporters lining up outside the airport. The enthusiastic supporters even stopped Gandhi’s vehicle on the airport road, causing some anxious moments for the security personnel escorting him.
“There were no official meetings scheduled for the two leaders for today,” he said.
A senior Congress leader said that the two leaders will engage in extensive discussions with party leaders and workers of all districts of Valley tomorrow.
After wrapping up interactions in Srinagar, Gandhi and Kharge will fly to Jammu to continue their interactions with the cadres of Jammu region.
The two leaders will take feedback from party workers about the grassroots-level preparations for the elections.
“This programme was decided even before the declaration of the election (dates) and only dates were to be finalised. This programme by Rahul and party president is to interact with the party workers so they are here,” Karra told reporters outside Hotel Lalit where the Congress’ central leaders are staying.
In the meantime, the AICC Screening Committee headed by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa met different delegations from Jammu region and Kashmir region of ticket seekers of the party from various Assembly constituencies.
“The committee arrived in Srinagar today and met different delegates and aspirants of Kashmir region. Yesterday, the committee met large number of aspirants separately till late night in the party HQ Shaheedi Chowk Jammu and also today morning,” a statement issued by Congress said.
“The AICC Screening Committee is meeting large number of delegations and individuals since past two days. After the process of Screening Committee, the recommendations shall be discussed in the Central Election Committee (CEC) for final decisions.”
“The other members of the committee who are attending the delegations include Anto Antony and Sachin Rao,” the statement added.
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