Congress changes gears in J&K; Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge to be in Jammu, Srinagar today and tomorrow

Sources said the Congress wants the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to be intact for the Assembly polls but there is no clarity on whether Kharge and Rahul will have any meetings with National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti.

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit Jammu, and Srinagar on August 21 and 22 for “key meetings” ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections with the party changing gears for the first electoral exercise in the troubled region since ten years.

Kharge and Gandhi would be meeting key leaders in the union territory to gather feedback as well as guide the party in the crucial elections. They will first land in Jammu on Wednesday afternoon where they are scheduled top hold extensive discussions with leaders in the region before heading to Srinagar where they will continue deliberations.

The meetings come after Kharge and Rahul held discussions with General Secretaries, in-charges and Screening Committee members of poll-bound states Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

“On 21st and 22nd August, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Jammu and Srinagar for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections,” Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal posted on X.

Sources said the Congress wants the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to be intact for the Assembly polls but there is no clarity on whether Kharge and Rahul would have any meetings with National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti.

The two top leaders visiting a poll-bound state for election consultations is an unprecedented exercise in the party, as usually the central leadership leaves it to the General Secretary or in-charge to hold fort in the state.

The Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the first to be held after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two union territories, will be held in three phases starting September 18. The second and third phases will be on September 25 and October 1 while the counting of votes will be on October 4.

The notification for the first phase of polls was issued on Tuesday while the last date for filing nominations has been set for August 27. Congress and other parties would have to rush to decide on the names with sources saying the party's Central Election Committee is likely to meet soon after the Screening Committee prepares a list of probable candidates.

After the meeting on Monday, Venugopal had told reporters that the Congress is “very much for an alliance" in Jammu and Kashmir. "Our motive is to defeat the BJP. We should have a BJP free government. That is our preference and we are open. I hope everybody will think in that way," he said.

In Jammu and Kashmir, I.N.D.I.A. bloc constituents National Conference and Congress fought together while PDP was out of the grouping after the former refused to accommodate it. Sources said the Congress is keen to have an alliance, especially after the Gupkar Alliance had collapsed.