In the upcoming parliamentary elections for the five segments in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress will have to tread cautiously while accommodating allies like the National Conference and PDP.
Both PDP and the National Conference are constituents of the Congress-led India Alliance at the centre. In the previous parliamentary elections, the National Congress won three seats in the Kashmir Valley, while the BJP won two seats in the Jammu region.
Within the National Conference, it seems that Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah are not on the same page regarding a pre-poll alliance with PDP and Congress, either in the parliamentary elections or for the assembly polls. The Supreme Court, while upholding the abrogation of Article 370, has asked the Election Commission of India to hold assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September-end 2024.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah has received feedback from the party cadres that any pre-poll alliance will damage their prospects of winning seats, especially an alliance with Congress and PDP. Recently, Omar Abdullah responded to the barbs publicly traded by PDP against their party on various issues.
Congress is looking for a pre-poll alliance with the National Conference and PDP for the five parliamentary segments in Jammu and Kashmir. A senior Congress leader told this reporter
that Congress will try to convince both NC and PDP to support their candidates in the two parliamentary segments of the Jammu region. If we field a united candidate in the two parliamentary segments of Jammu, we can win these seats the Congress leader said. Many leaders of the National Conference want the party to go alone in both the parliamentary and assembly elections, as they feel that they have huge support from common people, including in the Jammu region. PDP feels that a pre-poll alliance is a must for its political survival in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, PDP Parliamentary Board Chairman Mohammad Sarta Madni said “the PDP wants the constituents of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to remain together and fight elections united.
The Congress unit of Jammu and Kashmir wants its allies in PAGD to leave them two parliamentary segments of Jammu and one parliamentary segment of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley. It is not possible for us to leave any parliamentary segment in the Kashmir Valley as we have won all three seats previously”. Amid conflicts and contradictions, it is very difficult for Congress and its allies to accommodate each other in Jammu and Kashmir, either in parliamentary elections or in the coming assembly elections.