Rahul Gandhi, Kharge to arrive in Kashmir today, discuss Assembly poll strategy

Srinagar, Aug 21 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will now arrive in Srinagar on Wednesday evening after rescheduling their visit to Jammu and Kashmir. 

The visit of the senior Congress leaders to J&K was rescheduled because of the Bharat Bandh. According to the earlier schedule, the two were to visit Jammu first.

This will be Rahul Gandhi's first visit to the union territory after he became the LoP.

After holding deliberations with the National Conference (NC) leaders in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge will go to Jammu to meet the Congress leaders and discuss issues pertaining to the Legislative Assembly elections in the union territory.

“He will discuss seat-sharing formula with the NC leaders here while the pre-poll alliance is almost final,” Congress sources said.

Rahul Gandhi will also meet Pradesh Congress Committee leaders to discuss the seat-sharing formula.

NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah, however, has recently said that there would be no pre-poll alliance with any political party and the party is confident of getting a majority in the 90-member J&K Assembly on its own.

Congress and the NC had a poll alliance during the Lok Sabha polls as well. Two seats of the Jammu division and the lone Lok Sabha seat of the Ladakh union territory were given to the Congress while three seats in Kashmir were given to the NC.

Congress lost both seats in the Jammu division to the BJP while the Ladakh seat was won by an NC rebel defeating the BJP and the Congress candidates.

Out of the three seats in Kashmir, Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri were won by the NC. An independent candidate, Engineer Rashid defeated NC Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Baramulla Lok Sabha election.

J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition government. The state came under the Governor’s rule and the then-Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the state Assembly.

On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was abrogated and J&K was divided into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh.

After holding a largely people-participative Lok Sabha election, the ECI announced the 3-phase Assembly elections in J&K.

Voting will be held for the first phase on September 18, for the second phase on September 28 and for the third phase on October 1.

Counting is scheduled on October 4 and the poll process would be over by October 6.