After the announcement of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visited the state. During this, Congress leaders also held a meeting regarding the assembly elections. After the meeting, Kharge said that we talked to the leaders and sought their advice regarding the strategy for the upcoming elections. Rahul Gandhi wants to contest the elections by taking all the parties together and Congress wants the same India Alliance strategy here as well. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also talked about joining the India Alliance and said that the seats will be distributed soon.

Kharge said that he wants to work to improve Jammu and Kashmir. He said, "We have always seen that union territories become full states, but the BJP has converted Jammu and Kashmir from a full state to a union territory. Elections are being held here only due to the order of the Supreme Court. If there was no court order, elections would not have been held here."

Full statehood is our priority: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi said, "The priority of the Congress Party and 'India' is to restore the full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible. We hoped that this would be done before the elections, but the elections were announced. We are hoping that the full statehood will be restored as soon as possible and the rights (democratic rights) of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored." He said that this is the first time since independence that a state has become a union territory. Rahul Gandhi said, "This has never happened before. Union territories became states, but this is the first time that a state has become a union territory. Therefore, we had also made it clear in our (Lok Sabha election) manifesto that it is our priority that the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh get their democratic rights back." 

Rahul-Kharge is on a Kashmir tour

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the preparations for the assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi said that it is a privilege to come here and he has a deep relationship with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said, "My message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir is that the Congress Party is always with you. We understand that you are going through a very difficult time. We want to end the difficult times and violence. As I said in the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' - we want to open a "dukaan of love in the market of hatred" with respect and brotherhood." Elections will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1 for the 90 assembly seats of Jammu and Kashmir. The counting of votes will be done on June 4. Assembly elections are going to be held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir after most of the provisions of Article 370 were abolished in the year 2019.