Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Criticizes Congress-NC Alliance in Jammu and Kashmir

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], August 24: Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma criticized the Congress party for its alliance with the National Conference (NC) ahead of the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at a press conference in Jaipur, Sharma said, “Today the real character of Congress has come to the fore. Congress party, which has repeatedly played with the unity and security of the country in the greed of power, has again put its beloved in front of the country by allying with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Sharma questioned Rahul Gandhi if he supports NC’s stance of a separate flag in Jammu and Kashmir and the restoration of sections 370 and 35A. He said, “Yesterday you saw that Congress is allying with Rahul Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah. Many kinds of questions are arising in the minds of the people of the country regarding this, and they are arising because the statements given by the leaders of the National Conference in the past were not in the interest of the country. We want to ask the Congress that today Congress is going to contest the elections with the National Conference, which had said that if it comes to power, it will restore Article 370 and Article 35A, so does the Congress agree with this statement of the National Conference?”

He further questioned the Congress party if they want to bring back corruption in the system by supporting NC’s stance. “The abrogation of Article 370 has put an end to corruption. Does the Congress party want to bring back corruption in the system? The National Conference misguided the youth of Kashmir. Now that the youth are coming into the mainstream, why is Congress hindering their growth?” he said.

The pre-poll alliance was announced soon after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge met NC chief Farooq Abdullah. After the meeting, Farooq said that the Congress-NC would fight for all 90 seats in the assembly polls. The formal announcement of the tie-up was made by NC patron Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar. “United we stand,” JKNC posted on X. The announcement was made after Farooq Abdullah and his son, Omar, met Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. “Congress and we (NC) are together. Tarigami sahab (CPM’s M.Y. Tarigami) is also with us. I hope that our people are with us so that we can win and do better for the people. The alliance has been finalized and by this evening, the details of seat-sharing will be announced. The Alliance is for 90 seats,” Farooq Abdullah said.

The Congress and the NC had fought the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with each other. The National Conference won two seats–Anantnag and Srinagar. The Congress could not win any seats. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 4. The Election Commission has issued notification for the first phase of assembly seats for 24 seats. This is the first assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.