news details |
|
|
| Cong rules out alliance with any regional party | | | Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU, May 24: By openly making a suggestion that the Congress would not forge a pre-poll alliance with any regional political party in the forthcoming Assembly polls, the state unit of the grand old party has tried to convey the sentiments of the rank and file of the Congress to the High Command, which would take a final call on the decision.
The decision was taken in a meeting of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) held at Srinagar, which was attended among others by PCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, senior Congress leader and outgoing Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress Ministers in the State Cabinet. The meeting passed a unanimous resolution that Congress should not go for a pre-election tie up with any regional political outfit.
"Though the JKPCC has made up its mind of not favouring an alliance with the regional political outfits but the state leadership has to wait for some time since a concrete decision on the issue is to be taken ultimately by the party High Command in the days ahead… High Command's approach towards the issue of having an alliance with regional forces or going alone in the next Assembly will be a crucial and deciding factor," party insiders informed Early Times.
But, whatever the verdict of the Congress High Command, the PCC is walking a tight rope as on one side its base has eroded drastically in Jammu region which was quite visible in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls and on the other it failed to make fruitful inroads in Kashmir region during the last six years.
"It is better that good sense has prevailed and state unit has advocated for contesting the next state elections without any partnership but managing alone would be an uphill task for the party," said sources.
"The party's base has definitely eroded in Jammu region where it could manage lead on only 11 assembly segments out of 37 assembly constituencies in the recent Parliamentary polls while its vote share also reduced by about two percent to 23 percent….If Congress was unable to open its account in Jammu province despite contesting the two seats of Jammu and Udhampur with NC support how could it be able to fight the next Assembly polls on its own when the party is at its lowest ebb," said sources.
The sources further said that though majority of the state leaders were against any understanding with the NC in the recently held LS polls but the High Command's decision prevailed and they left with no other choice but to obey the dictat.
"It is an open secret that before the Lok Sabha elections several Congress leaders opposed a pre-poll alliance with NC but High Command ignored the pleas and decided to contest the polls jointly," said sources.
"The stand of state party leaders vindicated when Soz and Azad told a Congress meeting in Srinagar yesterday that coalition failed to reach to the grass root level…. They were of the opinion that the activists of both the parties worked against the directives of their respective high commands which resulted in the defeat of coalition candidates," sources added. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
