Assembly polls: Cong asks J&K leaders to iron out differences for ‘better show’

Over 25 leaders meet central leadership; divergent views emerge over possible alliances

Jammu: Taking a serious note of the prevailing factionalism within the party, the Congress high command today asked the leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir unit to reconcile their differences and work together to confront the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls in the Union Territory.
Despite the loss of two parliamentary seats in the Jammu region for the third consecutive time, the party high command, however, described the increased vote share of the Congress in the region as an “encouraging trend” and cautioned the leaders against any differences within the party ranks, which it felt, would hurt the party’s prospects in assembly polls.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, alongside Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal, held threadbare discussions with at least 26 leaders from both factions of the party during the two-hour-long meeting to address internal conflicts within the leadership in Jammu and Kashmir.
Before the meeting, Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir gave a brief about the political situation post-Lok Sabha polls to the party in-charge for the Union Territory Bharat Solanki during a luncheon meeting at Himachal Bhawan.
Insiders told The News Now that the central leadership of the party took serious note of the reports of internal differences in the leadership and cautioned leaders against engaging in factionalism and denigrating each other on party platforms.
“The party high command was dejected with the Lok Sabha election results, where the Congress failed to win either of the two Parliamentary seats in the Jammu province from the BJP for the third consecutive term. It, however, observed that the increased vote share was an encouraging sign, while the BJP vote share has declined significantly in two seats of Jammu region compared to the previous two parliamentary elections held in 2014 and 2019,” insiders added.
They said the party leadership asked J&K leaders to work unitedly and iron out their differences, if any, for a “better show” in the upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The central leadership was of the view that the Lok Sabha polls have provided Congress a good opportunity to further make inroads in the assembly constituencies which were won by the BJP during the 2014 Assembly polls, especially in Jammu region,” insiders said, adding “The BJP’s defeat on the two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu province was feasible but factionalism affected the party prospects adversely”.
During the meeting, insiders said that the central leadership asked J&K leaders to end their differences while accommodating the dissents and resentments, if any, among party ranks.
They said that Rahul Gandhi solicited suggestions from party leaders to formulate a strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections in J&K. “A threadbare discussion also took place on potential alliances for the upcoming Assembly polls. J&K leaders expressed divergent views on this matter, but the central leadership urged them to continue deliberating and reach a consensus before engaging in further discussions,” they said.
Additionally, the leaders of the J&K unit were also instructed to establish panels of potential candidates for the Assembly elections to prevent any confusion once the election schedule is announced.
Pertinently, this was the first review meeting of Congress central leadership to assess the party’s performance in Lok Sabha polls and the ongoing preparations for upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Updated On 6/28/2024 3:53:10 AM