With two key players in J&K politics—the National Conference and the PDP—locking horns for the prestigious Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, the role of the Congress party has come under scanner after two parties—being considered as an alliance partner in the INDIA bloc—extending their support to grand-old party on two seats—Jammu and Udhampur—in the region.
The NC vice president Omar Abdullah, after a meeting with Congress top leadership in New Delhi recently, had announced that his party would not contest from Jammu and Udhampur seats, and it would support Congress party on both the seats to ensure that “secular votes” don’t get divided.
Similarly, the PDP has opted not to field its candidates on these two seats, throwing its weight behind the Congress candidates—Raman Bhalla from Jammu and Choudhary Lal Singh from Udhampur. A straight contest between BJP and Congress will be held on both the seats which were won by the Saffron party during the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections with a thumping majority.
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“The National Conference and the PDP are not contesting from Udhampur seat where they are both supporting Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh. Similarly, two parties have not fielded their candidates from Jammu seat. Going by the current political equations, it is clear enough that it’s BJP versus Gupkar or INDIA partners on both the seats,” a second-rung political leader of BJP told The Gaon Tribune.
The leader said the role of Congress party on three Kashmir seats would be interesting to watch as the party is not contesting from these three seats.
“Both the NC and the PDP are contesting in Anantnag-Rajouri where Congress has a sizeable number of in Rajouri, Surankot, Kokernag, Dooru, Devsar and Shangus. Congress leadership will have to decide to whom they are going to support there—PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and NC’s Mian Altaf Ahmad,” the leader said.
Similarly, the role of Congress will also remain under scanner on two remaining seats—Srinagar and Baramulla where the two parties will also field their candidates and contest against each other. From Central Kashmir (Srinagar), NC vice president Omar Abdullah is expected to lock horns against the PDP’s Waheed Parra. On Baramulla seat, the NC is most likely to field former minister Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan against the two ex-separatists—J&K People’s Conference Sajjad Lone and former legislator Engineer Rashid. The PDP has fielded former parliamentarian Fayaz Ahmed Mir.
Sources within Congress said that the party leadership has asked local leaders to avoid taking sides publicly between the PDP and NC. “Instead of asking workers to support a particular party, Congress leaders will make an appeal to the people to ensure the defeat of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir to protect jobs and land rights of locals,” sources said.
Acknowledging the challenge of choosing between two alliance partners in INDIA bloc, sources said the Congress leaders would only campaign against the BJP asking the voters to exercise their right to franchise in large numbers to ensure the defeat of BJP and its proxy candidates on the five Lok Sabha of Jammu and Kashmir.
