Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar June 23: The Congress leaders in general today stressed against a pre-poll alliance with any party in the State during their meeting with AICC general secretary and in-charge Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Ambika Soni at SKICC today while the senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said that results of Assembly polls will be different from Parliament elections.
The crucial Congress meeting chaired by Ambika Soni started at 3 pm and continued till mid-night at SKICC in Srinagar during which majority of the Congress leaders and workers stressed against any pre-poll alliance with NC in the State. Around 67 one to one meeting were scheduled for Soni with Congress district presidents, Organizing Secretaries, General Secretaries, Vice Presidents, MLCs, MLAs and Ministers till mid-night.
The general meeting started at around 3 pm and lasted up to 4:30 pm. The meeting was addressed by Ambika Soni, JKPCC president Professor Saif-ud-Din Soz, Member Parliament Ghulam Nabi Azad, Cabinet Ministers Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and Rigzin Jora and senior leader Madan Lal Sharma.
Soni in her brief address referred to the challenges before the party in the State and at the national level and the circumstances which led to the defeat of the party in Parliamentary elections. She cautioned the party workers and leaders about the danger posed by the communal and divisive forces and asked them to gear up for the forthcoming Assembly election to defeat their designs.
The AICC general secretary asked the party leaders and workers to share their views about the political situation in the State and strategy to be adopted by the party for the forthcoming Assembly polls.
Soz in his address explained the importance of this interaction for the Congress party in the State. He sought suggestions for strengthening the party ahead of polls.
Azad stressed for gearing up the cadres at the grass root level and mentioned the reasons for the defeat of the party.
Peerzada Sayeed during his addressed stressed against any pre-poll alliance in the State. He said that he has won the elections on his own thrice from his constituency and there is no need for any pre-poll alliance. He told the meeting that the alliance has weakened the party.
Rigzin Jora stressed for the Union Territory status to Ladakh region which would boost the party in that region.
Madan Lal said that in Jammu party has to take effective steps to regain its foot hold. He said that the Government should resolve the long pending issues of Pakistani refugees in Jammu for fairing better in Assembly elections.
Azad told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that results of the Parliamentary elections won’t be repeated in Assembly elections. “I feel Parliament results won’t have any impact on the Assembly. There are 16-20 MLAs in a Parliamentary constituency and the candidate has no touch with the Assembly segments and there are local issues involved. I feel that leads in the Assembly segments in parliamentary polls won’t matter in the Assembly elections. It will depend upon the candidate who is more popular in a particular segment. The number of candidates in a particular Assembly constituency will also impact the results. I don’t think the result in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir during the parliamentary polls will be repeated in Assembly elections”, he said.
When asked about the performance of BJP in Jammu region where Congress was wiped out in the polls, the Congress leader said: “The BJP communalized the situation across the country. For the first time since 1977, RSS campaigned for the BJP and the communalized the situation. It happened across the country and Jammu as well”, he added.
Azad played down his meeting with the PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and said that is was just a breakfast meet where they discussed national politics and not any alliance. “We didn’t discuss the alliance between PDP and Congress. We discussed general politics of the country. We have worked together and we had coalition in the past and it can be in future”, he added.
The Congress leader said that he doesn’t expect anything on Jammu and Kashmir from Narendra Modi’s BJP Government. “Let them face the national front and then come to Kashmir front. I don’t expect anything from Modi on Kashmir. It will take them (BJP) at least two years to understand Kashmir”, he added.
On PM’s stance on return of Pandits to Kashmir, Azad said: “He is not the first person who says Kashmiri Pandits should return. Every mainstream party in Kashmir and non-mainstream parties are for their return.”
On settling Pandits in three separate townships in Kashmir, the Congress leader said: “They won’t do such things. They have to talk to elected Government on this issue. J&K is most sensitive place and it can’t be done without giving any thought to it.”
Azad said that BJP won’t touch Article 370 and it is a mere gimmick to garner support for the party in Assembly elections in Jammu region. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he was the tallest leader of BJP, he didn’t do anything to it. It is for getting votes and they want votes for Assembly from Jammu and after elections they won’t raise this issue”, he added.
The Congress leader castigated BJP for blaming Congress for price rise and inflation and said that now the PM is asking people to be ready for hard decisions. “They blamed Congress for inflation and price rise. The PM said people should be ready for hard decisions. We don’t expect anything from BJP”, he added.
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