New Delhi:
The Congress will not be part of the new Jammu and Kashmir government – despite having allied with Chief Minister-elect Omar Abdullah’s National Conference to win last month’s election – sources told NDTV Tuesday morning. The party – which sources said also declined the offer of one ministerial berth in the incoming government – will offer support from the outside instead.
However, two senior leaders – Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge; Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition the Lok Sabha; and the party’s General Secretary, Priyanka Vadra Gandhi – will attend the swearing-in ceremony, which will also see eight ministers take oath with Mr Abdullah.
Other opposition leaders, including the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, may also attend.
Mr Abdullah will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister – Jammu and Kashmir’s first elected head of state in a decade – after guiding the NC to victory in the September-October election.
Speaking before the ceremony, Mr Abdullah underlined a key expectation of his government – the restoration of J&K’s statehood that was revoked after Article 370 was scrapped in 2019.
“We have a lot to do. We have to give people the hope… that this is their government, and they will be heard. They were not heard for the past five-six years, and it will be our responsibility to listen to them and act on (their concerns) …” he told news agency ANI.
The NC dominated the election, winning 42 of the former state’s 90 elected seats. The Congress – expected to do well – flopped, winning only six seats; it won 12 in the 2014 election.
This meant the Kashmiri party claimed ‘big brother’ status in the alliance and could name the Chief Minister; NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah’s father, quickly named his son.
The NC’s hand was further strengthened by four independents and the lone Aam Aadmi Party legislator also offering support – to the party and not its alliance with the Congress.
Those results – coupled with defeat to the BJP in Haryana – cranked up the pressure on the INDIA bloc head, with friendly outfits like Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, an ally in next month’s Maharashtra election, criticising its inability to play nice with regional parties.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena was severe in its criticism, lamenting the Congress’ ability to “turn a winning innings into a defeat” and for failing to control state leaders.
The latter reference was to the Congress’ Haryana strongman and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, whose reluctance to ally with the AAP for this election, and to share the spotlight with fellow chief ministerial aspirant Selja Kumari, have been blamed for the loss.
“This always happens with the Congress,” the Thackeray Sena group, an INDIA bloc member, said, pointing to similar circumstances that derailed what could have been successful campaigns in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh last year.
Saket Gokhale of the Trinamool, which is also in the INDIA bloc, called out the Congress’ “attitude” towards seat-sharing and demanded the Congress “Learn!” from Haryana.
For its part, the Congress has said it will hold a detailed review of both results. Party boss Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior leaders met in Delhi last week. Speaking after the meeting, Ajay Maken said multiple topics had been discussed, including infighting and factionalism in Haryana and the allegations against the Election Commission.
Sources said the party realises things have to change for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections, and that Mr Kharge had already met the former’s Chief Minister, Hemant Soren.
