Rahul races to take Jammu and Kashmir poll pivot

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Rahul Gandhi to kick off J&K poll campaign tomorrow

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, September 3: Former Congress president visit Rahul Gandhi will launch the poll campaign of the party in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. Gandhi will address two public meetings in the J&K on Wednesday.

The Congress on Tuesday said that Gandhi will address a public meeting at Ramban in Jammu. He will also address a public meeting in Dooru in Anantnag in the Kashmir valley.

By addressing one public meeting each in Jammu as well as Kashmir region, Gandhi will aim to appeal to the people in the two key regions.

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Jammu has a total of 43 Assembly seats. The Kashmir valley has 47 Assembly seats.

The Congress and the National Conference are pre-poll allies for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. The Congress is contesting 31 Assembly seats in J&K.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is struggling ahead of the J&K Assembly elections amid lack of clarity on the part of the former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. This has emboldened the Congress and the National Conference alliance to aim for power in the Union Territory.

Gandhi had concluded his first leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Srinagar. He is hoping to reconnect with the people in J&K by taking a key role in the campaigning.

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Gandhi had last month also visited Srinagar. The Congress is promising statehood for J&K in the poll campaign.

By finalizing the candidates for J&K, the Congress is hoping that the faction-fighting in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will also help in regaining grounds. The Congress is keen to assert its strength in the Jammu region.

The ticket distribution by the BJP has fuelled faction-fighting in the party ranks. The BJP had also faced poll heat during the Lok Sabha elections in the Jammu region.

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The BJP had won two of the total five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress is also hoping that desertion from the party founded by Ghulam Nabi Azad will help it recover the lost grounds in the Jammu region.

The National Conference is also hoping that the marginalization of the PDP will help it gain an upper hand in the Kashmir valley. Gandhi will be the principal campaigner for the Congress in the J&K Assembly elections.

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