SRI NAGAR: The proposed pre-Assembly poll alliance between the National Conference and the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir has evoked dissenting voices in both the parties who say “the alliance will prove disastrous for the parties”.
Chief Minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah met Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“The two leaders discussed the political situation in the state, especially the arrangements between the two parties for the Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year,” a source said.
The source said the top leadership of both parties was in favour of an alliance for the Assembly polls to reduce the impact of the “Modi wave” in the Jammu province.
However, there are dissenting voices. State Congress vice-president Abdul Gani Vakil said any alliance with the National Conference would be disastrous for both parties.
“If the two parties don’t learn lessons and repeat the mistake committed in the Lok Sabha polls by forging an alliance, the National Conference and Congress will have to face disastrous results in the Assembly polls also.” Of the six Parliamentary constituencies in the state, the National Conference contested in three and lost all to the PDP, while the Congress lost three seats in Jammu and Ladakh to the BJP. Vakil said the party rank and file was not in favour of any pre-poll alliance with any party including National Conference. “The pre-poll alliance between the two parties won’t be in favour of the NC either,” he said.
The Congress leader said any alliance between the National Conference and the Congress would help the BJP in the Hindu belts of the state. “The alliance in Parliamentary polls have proved that both parties failed to transfer their votes to other parties and the same will happen again if a pre-poll alliance is formed,” he said.
“It’s the National Conference which is more interested in a pre-poll alliance,” Vakil said. He felt the alliance wouldn’t produce any good results, saying that people wanted alternatives and options.