“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,” Shah wrote in his post.
Further, the Union Home Minister mentioned the election manifesto released by the National Conference party for the impending elections in Jammu and Kashmir, thus making ground for his detailed questionnaire to Congress.
Here are the questions Amit Shah put forth as he pinned serious allegations on the Opposition party:
- Does the Congress support the National Conference’s promise of a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir?
- Do Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party support the JKNC’s decision to restore Article 370 and 35A, and thereby push Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism?
- Does the Congress support promoting separatism again by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of Kashmir’s youth?
- Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the National Conference’s decision to start ‘LoC Trade’ with Pakistan, thereby nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border?
- Does Congress support reinstating relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting into government jobs, thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism, and the era of strikes?
- The alliance has exposed the Congress party’s anti-reservation stance. Does Congress support the JKNC’s promise to end reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals, and Pahadi communities, thereby inflicting injustice upon them?
- Does the Congress want ‘Shankaracharya Hill,’ to be known as ‘Takht-e-Suleiman,’ and ‘Hari Hill’ as ‘Koh-e-Maran’?
- Does the Congress support the politics of pushing Jammu and Kashmir’s economy back into corruption and handing it over to selected Pakistan-supported families?
- Does the Congress party support the JKNC’s politics of discrimination between Jammu and the Valley?
- Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC’s divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir?
The Congress-National Conference political alliance
On Thursday, Congress and the National Conference announced their alliance to jointly contest the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections. The elections are slated to occur in three phases: September 18, September 25, and October 1, with the vote counting scheduled for October 4.
“The alliance has been finalized and by this evening the details of seat-sharing will be announced. The Alliance is for 90 seats,” said Farooq Abdullah. “People have suffered much in the last 10 years. Statehood is the prime concern for us. And we want all the powers of the state. Our common program is to fight divisive forces. Our doors are open for all, let’s first win the election. My heart is happy today,” the NC patron added.
Rahul Gandhi says ‘restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir a priority’
In a press conference in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi emphasized that restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is a top priority for both the Congress Party and the INDIA alliance.
“We had expected that this would be done before the elections but elections have been declared. It is a step forward and we are hoping that statehood will be restored as soon as possible and the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, democratic rights will be restored to them. This is the first time since independence that a state has become a union territory. This has never happened before. Union territories have become states but it is the first time that a State has become Union Territory. So, we are very clear in our national manifesto as well that it is a priority for us that the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh get their democratic rights back,” said the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
This alliance between Congress and the National Conference is not their first partnership. Both parties are also members of the INDIA bloc, formed to challenge the ruling BJP in the General Elections. In the Lok Sabha polls, the National Conference secured two seats—Anantnag and Srinagar—while Congress did not win any seats.
