Elections: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi To Visit Jammu And Kashmir

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be visiting election bound Jammu and Kashmir on August 21, 22. The leaders are expected to visit both Jammu and Kashmir regions.

Both Kharge and Gandhi will be visiting the state for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections, Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said in a post on X.

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On 21st and 22nd August, Hon’ble Congress President Shri Mallikarjun @kharge ji and Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi ji will be visiting Jammu and Srinagar for key meetings in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections.

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 20, 2024

Meanwhile, Congress National General Secretary Gulam Ahmed Mir told PTI in Jammu: “Kharge ji and Rahul ji will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir for two days, starting tomorrow. They will arrive in Jammu tomorrow afternoon”.

During their stay, they will conduct meetings with leaders and workers in both regions, with an aim to motivate and strengthen the party cadre. After their meetings in Jammu, both leaders will travel to Srinagar on Wednesday evening to continue their engagements and will hold a press conference there on Thursday, Mir added.

The grand old party’s announcement came a day after Kharge and Gandhi held an important meeting with the general secretaries, in-charges and Screening Committee members of the election-bound states — Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

After the meeting on Monday, Venugopal told the Central Election Committee meeting for Jammu and Kashmir would take place in the next three-four days. Since party’s main objective was to keep the BJP out of government, Congress is open for alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

Similarly, Jammu and Kashmir’s newly appointed Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra told PTI: “We are open to talks with like-minded parties who are fighting against the hegemonic attitude of the BJP. We are open to that. We have to have a respectable alliance but the parameters are different this time.”

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The elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases starting September 18. The second and third phase will be conducted on September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 4, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Friday. Jammu and Kashmir has been functioning without an elected government for five years now.