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the ceremony, Mr Abdullah underlined a key expectation of his government – the restoration of J&K’s statehood that was revoked after Article 370 was scrapped in 2019.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.

New Delhi:

Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday fired 10 questions at the Congress after the party said it had all but agreed an alliance with the National Conference for next month’s Jammu and Kashmir election.

In a post on X Mr Shah raged that the Congress – which “played with the unity and security of the country in its greed for power” in the past – had “once again put itself before the country”. He also questioned the Congress over promises made by the National Conference in its manifesto, including a promise to encourage dialogue between with Pakistan and restoration of the J&K flag.

Of course, the red flag, as far as the BJP was concerned, was the National Conference saying it would “strive to restore 370 – 35A (referring to Article 370 and Article 35A, which guaranteed special status to J&K and special rights to ‘permanent residents’ of J&K) and statehood as prior to August 2019”.

The 10 questions for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, who was in Srinagar Thursday and claimed “blood” ties with the people of J&K, included jabs over the party’s “support (for) the era of terrorism”.

Mr Shah’s 10 questions:

1. Does Congress support National Conference’s promise of a separate flag for J&K again?
2. Do Rahul Gandhi and Congress support the National Conference’s decision to push J&K back into an era of unrest and terrorism by bringing back Article 370 and Article 35A?
3. Does the Congress support promoting separatism by talking to Pak in exchange for Kashmir’s youth?
4. Do Congress and Rahul Gandhi support nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border (as a result) of the NC’s decision to start trade (across the LoC) with Pakistan?
5. Does Congress support bringing back the era of terrorism and shutdowns by reinstating to government posts family members of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting?
6. This alliance has brought forth anti-reservation face of Congress. Is the party with NC’s promise to do injustice to Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals, and Paharis by ending reservation?
7. Does Congress want Shankaracharya Parvat (a temple on a hill overlooking Srinagar and dedicated to Lord Shiva) – to be Takht-e-Suliman, and Hari Parvat as Koh-e-Maran?
8. Does the Congress support handing over the J&K economy to a handful of Pakistan-backed families by once again throwing it into the fire of corruption?
9. Does Congress support NC’s politics of discrimination between Jammu and the Valley?
10. Do Congress and Rahul Gandhi support NC’s divisive thinking of autonomy to Kashmir?

The Congress party, which has repeatedly risked the nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power, has once again exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah family’s ‘National Conference’ in the Jammu and Kashmir elections.

Given the promises made in… pic.twitter.com/omxj3xOdP3

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 23, 2024

On Thursday, after a meeting between Mr Gandhi and NC boss Farooq Abdullah at the latter’s home in Srinagar, sources told NDTV the broad strokes of a deal – for all 90 seats – had been agreed.

“We had a good meeting, in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track, it is final… it will go smoothly. It will be signed and is on all 90 seats,” Mr Abdullah, a former Chief Minister, said.

READ | Congress-National Conference J&K Tie-Up Done But Issues Over Seats

This is the first Congress-NC alliance in J&K since 1987. The two are, however, part of the INDIA bloc that was led by the Congress and put up a strong showing in the April-June Lok Sabha election. The NC won two of J&K’s five seats, while the BJP got the other two and an independent the fifth.

READ | Restoration Of J&K Statehood Is Focus Of National Conference’s Manifesto

As far as the opposition is concerned, sources said the successful meeting between Mr Abdullah and Mr Gandhi underlined their intention – that despite some differences, both parties want this alliance.

READ | J&K To Vote In 3 Phases, 1st State Poll Since Article 370 Was Scrapped

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election will be held in three phases – on September 18 and 25, and on October 1. Votes will be counted on October 4.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Srinagar:

The Congress and National Conference’s pre-poll alliance was finalised after Rahul Gandhi visited Farooq Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar. Sources said there are still challenges on the seat-sharing but the leadership of both parties have asked negotiators to figure out a formula that works for both parties.

This is the fist time since 1987 when NC and Congress have entered into a pre-poll alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. 

“We had a good meeting, in a cordial atmosphere. The alliance is on track and god willing, it will go smoothly. The alliance is final. It will be signed this evening and the alliance is on all 90 seats,” said Farooq Abdullah.

The announcement came after an hour-long meeting between leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Omar and Farooq Abdullah at their Gupkar home in Srinagar.

The meeting gave out a clear message – despite serious differences over the seat-sharing formula, the top leadership of both parties wanted to fight the assembly elections together.

“Kharge Ji and I have conveyed to Karra sahib (Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Karra) that there will be an alliance. But respect of Congress workers and Congress leaders has to be maintained,” said Mr Gandhi.

Both parties have already held three rounds of seat-sharing negotiations and the last one late last night ended on a bitter note as both sides hardened their stand on the number of seats they wanted to contest, the sources said.

During today’s meeting with Rahul Gandhi, the idea of friendly contests on some seats claimed by both sides was also considered, they added.

Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir and the restoration of the erstwhile state’s statehood appears to be central to his poll promise.

“We want statehood for you, that is in your heart. We want you to run your state the way you want to, this is the message we came to convey,” he said.

The region was stripped of its statehood and special status under Article 370 in 2019.

Backing Rahul Gandhi’s comments, NC patron Farooq Abdullah said, “People have suffered much in the last 10 years. Statehood is the prime concern for us. And we want all the powers of the state. Our common program is to fight divisive forces. Our doors are open for all, let’s first win the election. My heart is happy today.”

Earlier, while speaking exclusively to NDTV, Omar Abdullah said that seat-sharing “brings with it its own challenges”. “Seat sharing brings with it its own challenges, I have 90 candidates. There is a problem of plenty,” he said. He emphasised that even if they work out a seat-sharing deal with the Congress, it “will not be smooth”.

In the recently held Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress-NC alliance had got 41.7 percent votes while former allies, the BJP and PDP, got 17 and eight percent, respectively.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 4. This is the first assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Kargil:

The National Conference-Congress alliance has logged a massive victory in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council elections in Kargil, decisively defeating the BJP in the first-ever local elections held after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into two Union Territories.

The counting of votes in the 26-seat hill council began this morning. The alliance has bagged 18 seats – National Conference has won on 10 and its ally, the Congress, on eight – after counting was completed on 21 seats. The BJP has managed to win two seats so far.

Counting is underway in the remaining five seats. As many as 85 candidates were in the contest for the 26 seats.

The Opposition held the elections to be a referendum on the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370.

During the polling, most voters talked about identity issues following the abrogation and the absence of a democratic representation under the Union Territory administration.

Many voters said that they wanted a reunion with Jammu and Kashmir and that the Union Territory experiment failed to deliver. 

“We want our statehood back. We didn’t get anything being a UT and our children are unemployed,” a Kargil local said.

At a poll rally, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah urged voters to send a “clear message to reject or accept” the NDA government’s August 5, 2019 decision.

Earlier, the Ladakh administration had denied the “plough” symbol to National Conference candidates, leading to a legal battle and the Supreme Court set aside the polls that were earlier scheduled for September 10.

Over the last three years, political parties, and social and religious groups in Ladakh have forged an alliance opposing Ladakh’s UT status and demanding full statehood and constitutional protection under the sixth schedule. 

The rare political alliance between Buddhist and Muslim groups in the Leh and Kargil districts is posing a major challenge to the BJP’s electoral prospects in Ladakh.