Dissent in Congress over alliance with NC in J&K, Rahul rushes to valley on Sept 4

New Delhi: Several Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir have raised a banner of revolt against the local unit for forcing the central leadership to strike an alliance with the National Congress (NC) for the upcoming assembly elections.

Senior leader Taj Mohiuddin attacked Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Tariq Hameed Karra and party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir for forcing Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to plead the NC leadership for a pre-poll alliance.

He alleged that the party high command was misled by Karra and Mir for personal gains. These two leaders had insisted that a tie-up was the need of the hour, claimed Mohiuddin, a former cabinet minister in the erstwhile state.

Another senior leader GN Monga has also trained his guns on Karra for ignoring party loyalists in ticket distribution after signing a "disastrous" seat-sharing agreement with the NC.

He said the alliance was not working at the grassroots level. 

"There is no direction for workers from the leadership of the two parties and that is why the lack of coordination was visible on the ground," he added.

As per the seat-sharing agreement, the NC will contest 51 seats, the Congress will field its candidates in 32 seats. 

One seat each has been allotted to the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP). 

There will be a "friendly contest" on five seats.

In a WhatsApp message to party in-charge Bharatsinh Solanki, Monga said that there would be a friendly fight on the Baramulla assembly seat too.

If true, this again shows that the alliance was done in a huff and not after due deliberations and threadbare discussion on each constituency.

It is well-known in Kashmir political circles that the NC leadership was not in favour of any alliance with the Congress. However, the local Congress leaders persuaded their central leadership to strike a deal for personal gains. 

At one point, the central Congress leadership also directed its local unit to start preparations and shortlist candidates for all the 90 seats. 

However, the local leaders then approached the party general secretary in-charge of the organisation KC Venugopal who then asked former union minister Salman Khursheed to accompany him to Srinagar to firm up the alliance.

Local leaders have also alleged that Karra and Mir were trying to dominate the ticket distribution in the party and nominate their favourites while ignoring party loyalists.

In his WhatsApp message, Monga, a former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), further told Solanki that Karra was trying to accommodate his "blue-eyed boy" from the Baramulla seat. 

"This is totally unacceptable. I am a senior leader of INC and my name should be considered first. By doing such mischief, Mr Karra is not going to serve the party. What message will this give to the loyalty and dedication of senior party workers," he wrote in his message.

The dissent has grown louder ahead of Rahul Gandhi's visit to Kashmir on September 4.

It is now left to Rahul Gandhi to send a message to his party workers to ensure coordination among alliance partners on the ground.