The Congress is open to talks with like-minded parties to strike a “respectable alliance” for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls but the parameters for such a tie-up would be different from the Lok Sabha elections, the party’s newly-appointed Jammu and Kashmir chief Tariq Hameed Karra said on Monday. In an interview with PTI, Karra also said Ghulam Nabi Azad‘s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) had been “outrightly rejected” by the people, who “punished” the outfit for the “idea of leaving the Congress”.
The former MP said “restoration of statehood” was of “paramount” importance for the Congress and accused the Centre of taking the “unconstitutional” step of relegating a state to a Union Territory (UT).
Karra, who became the Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief last week, replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call was already there for all secular parties opposed to the “hegemonic attitude” of the BJP to unite.
Asked if the Congress would align with parties such as the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Karra said, “The previous coalition (for parliamentary polls) had different parameters; it was at the national level and parameters are always different between parliamentary elections and assembly elections.”
“So, we will have to talk within ourselves also, to my leadership in Jammu and Kashmir. We have been given assurances by the leadership here in Delhi that there shall be a respectable alliance because the parameters fixed at that time (parliamentary polls) were different that I don’t think would be applicable this time,” he told PTI.
“We have to start discussions immediately after assuming charge and I have to have discussions with my colleagues and then only we will decide. We are open to talks with like-minded parties that are fighting against the hegemonic attitude of the BJP. We are open to that. We have to have a respectable alliance but the parameters are different this time,” Karra asserted.
Later, after his arrival in Srinagar, Karra said the NC and the PDP had opened channels with the Congress’ central leadership for talks over an alliance in the assembly polls.
“To my knowledge, the NC has already approached the central leadership for an alliance,” he told reporters.
Asked if the PDP had approached the Congress for an alliance, he said, “At some level, talks have happened.”
The NC and the Congress forged an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. However, Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP was not part of the alliance and had accused the NC of violating the spirit of the Gupkar alliance.
Karra (69) belongs to a prominent political family from Srinagar. He joined the Congress in 2017 after quitting the Mehbooba Multi-led party.
He was a strong critic of the PDP-BJP alliance.
Karra won the Lok Sabha election from Srinagar in 2014, handing NC’s Farooq Abdullah his first electoral defeat in four decades.
“I have been appointed PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chief at this juncture and I am very happy that the Congress party as a whole, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Kharge in particular, have bestowed trust in me. Now I don’t think there is any time to take on other organisational work. It is time to jump into the election fray directly,” Karra told PTI.
As far as the prospects of the Congress are concerned, Karra said former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra earned huge goodwill in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Even in the parliamentary elections, which were fought on that goodwill factor, we did not get any direct benefit of that but others did get the benefit of that goodwill factor of Rahul Gandhi,” Karra said.
“I am very optimistic that the environment there, the mood of the people, the national scenario, factoring in all those, the Congress will fare very well in the coming elections,” he asserted.
Talking about the issues the Congress would fight the assembly polls on, Karra said political stands were very clear as far as the Congress was concerned and it wanted full restoration of democracy.
“They have to restore statehood… Also laws that were forced on us have to be looked into. Those things have to be taken into consideration,” he said.
Karra accused the BJP of having a “step-motherly” attitude towards Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that it had always used the Union Territory for minting votes countrywide.
“We have to highlight these things. People in general are fed up with the kind of attitude they have been met with by the BJP,” he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief said restoration of statehood was the “paramount” issue as people had been “denied” something which was their right.
“This is the first time a full state has been reduced to a UT. In the Constitution, there is mention of converting a UT into a state but no mention of converting a state into a UT. So this break up of the state… such unconstitutional things they have done,” he said.
Asked about former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party, Karra said, “People have outrightly rejected that party. The idea of leaving the Congress has been totally rejected and they have been punished for that.”
Talking about rising terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir recently, Karra said people had been suffering from militancy for three decades.
“At the time of the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP had blown the trumpet that henceforth there would be no militancy, henceforth there would be room for development, henceforth there would be investment but now the whole world is seeing how much the militancy has been curbed. The only thing that has happened is the changing of goalposts,” Karra told PTI.
The terror incidents are a “direct failure” of the central government as well as the state administration, he said, adding that it was a very “grave concern” for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“I see people want restoration of democracy, they want a popular government, they are fed up with the present government’s hegemonic and dictatorial attitude towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They are waiting to throw them out,” Karra said.
While Karra has replaced Wani as president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, party president Kharge has also appointed two working presidents for Jammu and Kashmir — Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla.
The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1.
The Congress is hoping to continue with its political revival by inflicting losses on the BJP in the Jammu region where the two parties are the main contestants.
The regional parties the NC and the PDP have won most of the seats in the Kashmir Valley between them in the past elections.
In the last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, the BJP won 25 of its 87 seats and joined hands with the PDP to form a government under the leadership of the regional party’s leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly now has 90 seats following delimitation.
