On Friday, Home Minister Amit Shah directed his criticism towards the Congress party following its announcement of an alliance with Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference in preparation for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Taking to X, Shah wrote, “The Congress party, which has repeatedly played with the unity and security of the country in its greed for power, has once again revealed its intentions to the country by forming an alliance with the Abdullah family’s ‘National Conference’ in the Jammu and Kashmir elections.”
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
“My 10 questions to the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi on the promises made in the National Conference manifesto:
- Does Congress support National Conference’s promise of a separate flag for J&K again?
- 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?
- Does the Congress support promoting separatism by talking to Pakistan in exchange for Kashmir’s youth?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
- Does Congress support NC’s politics of discrimination between Jammu and the Valley?
- Do Congress and Rahul Gandhi support NC’s divisive thinking of autonomy to Kashmir?
NC and Congress form pre-poll alliance
As Jammu and Kashmir gears up for its first Assembly elections since becoming a union territory, Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference (NC) officially established a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party on Friday. The partnership was finalised during a meeting at Abdullah’s home on Thursday, which was attended by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.
The NC and Congress agreement encompasses all 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, with seat-sharing arrangements finalised for most constituencies. Omar Abdullah, the NC’s vice president, confirmed on Friday that negotiations have effectively allocated seats for the majority of the Assembly’s constituencies, with talks still in progress to address disputes over a few remaining seats.
“Consensus has been reached to a large extent. I can tell you that we have reached a consensus on the maximum seats out of the 90. On few seats, we are adamant and on some others, the local leaders of the Congress are adamant. There will be meetings today as well and we will try to sort out the rest of the seats so as to announce our candidates,” said Omar Abdullah.
