Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 20: As the BJP is aggressively raking up the issue of Article 370, the Congress is trying to avoid this highly emotive issue, especially ahead of the elections in Jammu province.
Senior Congress leaders campaigning in Jammu province trying to give the impression that the restoration of Article 370 is incorporated into the election manifesto of the National Conference and not in the manifesto of the Congress.
“Congress and National Conference are two different political parties. We have different election manifestos”, senior Congress leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Parmod Tiwari replied while his attention was drawn toward the demand of the National Conference to restore Article 370.
He said that the agendas of both the National Conference and Congress are entirely different and both parties are committed to their ideologies.
Echoing similar sentiments, Deputy Chief Minist Senior leaders campaigning in Jammu are saying that NC and Congress are different parties.
Congress leaders are saying restoration of Article 370 is NC's demand and not of the Congress party.
The coalition government would be run by the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and not on the manifesto of the National Conference.
Congress leaders are recalling when BJP entered into an alliance with PDP after the 2014 Assembly elections it had incorporated the demand for Self-Rule in its election manifesto.
“Although we are fighting Assembly elections jointly, we are contesting the polls on separate election manifestos”, he said and made it clear that coalition government would be run by the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and not on the manifesto of the National Conference.
Congress leaders are trying to clarify that in case the alliance forms government in Jammu and Kashmir it will be run by the CMP, which will be formulated by incorporating the wishes and aspirations of all sections of the society including the people of Jammu region.
To counter BJP’s narrative, Congress leaders recalled that when the Saffron Party entered into an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP had incorporated the demand for Self-Rule in its election manifesto. | 