Rahul Gandhi Bats for Congress in J & K

Political atmosphere is vibrant in Jammu and Kashmir. After the completion of the second phase of polling people are ready to enter the third phase. Keeping pace with the response of the masses towards the electoral process the national political parties are working overnight to woo the voters. After the whirlwind tours of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda to set the ball rolling for the BJP in the Assembly Elections, Congress has turned into aggressive mode. Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi has addressed the people of Jammu and Kashmir and presented the case for his party. During his tour on Wednesday he remarked on various issues. While interacting with the professionals in Jammu he addressed the questions of the girl who wanted to start her entrepreneurial venture and a young researcher who asked him about the state of research in Jammu and Kashmir. This is indeed a welcome move as the involvement of the youth in the sharing of ideas for policy making must be the national imperative for the new age India. Youth in Jammu and Kashmir want innovation and technology to be the buzz word and be in sync with their counterparts in the rest of India. In his public address he targeted the policies of the BJP led NDA government that includes the GST regime and the patronage of the specified business groups. His argument was that by taking away the statehood and downgrading Jammu and Kashmir to UT has affected the small business that forms the bedrock of the local economy for the masses. In his political message he said that he and his party is ready to fight for the restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir from the Parliament to the streets. He banked on the outsiders versus the local argument to justify that benefits are not being accrued to the locals in the UT. He underlined the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits and assured that promises made to the community by the former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be fulfilled. It is pertinent to mention that it was during the Congress regime led by Dr. Manmohan Singh there was a forward movement towards the rehabilitation and dialogue with the religiously cleansed Kashmiri Pandits and two room tenements were allotted to the community. Almost all main political parties from the national to local have touched this issue. Only time will tell. Whether they can deliver or not? Congress is fighting this Assembly Election in alliance with the Kashmir based National Conference. There is a seat sharing arrangement between the two parties. National Conference and Congress are competing for 32 seats together in alliance while the National Conference is contesting 51 seats out of 90. National Conference leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah has made a pointed remark on Rahul Gandhi asking him to focus on Jammu and wrap up his campaigning in Kashmir. He justified this by saying that the Congress party is contesting a majority of seats in Jammu. Omar Abdullah has said, “I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses on Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important. Unfortunately, Congress hasn’t done as much in the plains of Jammu as we would expect them to do. The lion’s share of the seats that the alliance gave in Jammu was to the Congress party. Yet, the Congress’ campaign in Jammu is yet to begin and there are only five days of campaigning. I hope once Rahul is done campaigning in this one seat in the valley, the Congress focuses all its attention in the plains of Jammu.” This statement must be read between the lines. This can mean many things. It can be a signal to the electorate in Kashmir by the National Conference that the party is concerned about its core constituency that favours the restoration of Article 370 and 35 A. Moreover it also shows the political desperation that can be felt in the political ground in Kashmir due to the emergence of new political formations and the independents of radical ideologies. Will the NC-Congress Alliance go well before and after the polls? Only time will tell. But Omar Abdullah has sent a signal to the Congress Party and its leader Rahul Gandhi that can affect their seat arrangement. Electoral politics in Jammu and Kashmir is taking a new turn. How will Congress respond to this situation, it has to be seen? It is clear that Congress and National Conference are divided between Jammu and Kashmir when it comes to seat sharing.It will surely have an impact on the poll outcome.