Congress will introspect party’s performance in Jammu: Karra

Srinagar, Oct 9: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Tariq Hameed Karra Wednesday said that the party would introspect its poor performance in the recently-concluded assembly elections, particularly in the Jammu division, where the party’s results fell far short of expectations.

Talking to reporters here, Karra expressed regret over the outcome, which saw Congress winning only one of the 29 seats it contested in the Jammu division.

“We are very sorry for that, but we will introspect it,” he said while also pointing to lapses in administration in the lead-up to the elections, suggesting possible deliberate interference.

“There were lapses on the part of the administration or some deliberate attempts. In the last three days before voting, all the Police checkpoints were taken off, and the distribution of money and liquor was facilitated,” he said. “These factors might have impacted the results.”

The JKPCC chief’s remarks came after he along with the Congress party’s in-charge for J&K, Bharat Solanki, visited the residence of National Conference (NC) leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah here to congratulate them on their party’s victory.

The NC-Congress alliance secured a major win in the first Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, though Congress’ performance left much to be desired.

The J&K Congress president said that the victory was a clear rejection of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its policies.

“The mandate of the people is against the BJP’s divisive politics, their hate-mongering and oppressive policies. People have voted against their atrocities at the constitutional, legal, socio-cultural, and religious levels,” he said.

Despite the NC-Congress alliance winning the elections overall, the Congress’ performance in Jammu was particularly disappointing.

Prominent leaders, including two working presidents of the Congress, lost their races.

The party had fielded 32 candidates, most of them in Jammu, but only one managed to secure victory.

Karra also reaffirmed the Congress’ commitment to fighting for the restoration of J&K’s statehood.

“Our struggle will now start afresh,” he said, underscoring the importance of restoring full statehood to J&K.

About potential talks between Congress and NC regarding government formation, Karra clarified that no discussions had taken place yet.

“We only came to congratulate the Abdullah’s on behalf of the party. Omar Abdullah has said their legislature party meeting is yet to happen, and after that, they will talk with their alliance partners. We have to wait for their legislature party to meet before any further decisions are made,” he said.

After meeting Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, Karra left for New Delhi where he is stated to brief the party high command.

Earlier, he held a brief meeting with senior Congress leaders including Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Peerzada Muhammad Syed at his residence in Srinagar.