Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge promises 5 guarantees for J&K if NC-Congress alliance wins ahead of upcoming elections

Srinagar: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday promised five guarantees to the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) if the Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance is voted to power in the Union Territory (UT). He said that the promise for return of Kashmir Pandit migrants to their homes, which was made during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as the country’s Prime Minister, will be fulfilled. He also added that the OBCs will also get their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Congress-NC alliance will strive for statehood and also fill all the vacancies lying vacant in various government departments in Jammu and Kashmir and promised Rs 3,000 per month to women heads of each family. The Congress President criticised the BJP and also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“If we had just 20 more seats in the Lok Sabha, all these people would have been in jail and they deserve to be there,” he said on Wednesday during the Congress’ poll rally in Anantnag district.

He noted that the BJP had stalled development in Jammu and Kashmir and had backtracked on all its poll promises.

He slammed the BJP’s claim of ‘400 Paar’ during the Lok Sabha elections, saying, “Where is your ‘400 paar’ now? You are stuck at 240.”

Kharge said that the BJP was staying in power as a minority government, adding that it was afraid of the Congress-NC alliance.

He alleged that constant revision of the BJP candidates list was evidence of the uncertainty that the Congress-NC alliance had created within the former.

Kharge accused the BJP of misleading the youth on the promise of employment.

“Deception is the only policy of the BJP for the youth of J&K. Exam paper leaks, bribes, and rampant corruption have delayed recruitment in government departments for the last four years,” he alleged.

He said the BJP had stalled development in the Union Territory. He quoted the example of a market project inaugurated 10 years ago in Anantnag, which he said had seen no progress under PM Modi-led Union government. He said the state BJP leadership gives only speeches, but does no work.

The Congress-NC pre-poll alliance agreement has given 52 Assembly seats to the NC and 31 to the Congress to field candidates.

Two seats, one in the Valley for the CPI-M and the other in the Jammu division for the J&K Panthers Party, have been left by both the Congress and the NC.

On five seats of Sopore in Kashmir and Nagrota, Doda, Bhaderwah and Banihal, the two parties could not reach a consensus and have decided to field candidates for those five seats to engage in a ‘friendly contest’.

J&K after delimitation has 90 Assembly seats, of which 47 are in Kashmir and 43 are in Jammu. Out of these 90 seats, nine are ST and seven are SC reserved seats.  The UT goes to poll in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held in J&K on October 8. (IANS)

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