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| Congress yet to join NC campaign in Nagrota bypoll | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 25: After announcing that it would not contest the Nagrota Assembly by-election, the Congress is yet to decide whether it will campaign jointly with its coalition partner, the National Conference (NC), in the constituency.
While the ruling NC has already kick-started its campaign, the Congress has so far refrained from deputing any leader to canvass for Shamim Begum, the NC candidate from the seat.
Highly placed sources within the Congress revealed that a majority of party leaders favour maintaining a distance from the campaign and allowing the NC to contest independently.
“The feeling within the party is that the National Conference should handle the campaign for its candidate on its own, as agreed under the coalition arrangement,” a senior leader said.
In the 2024 Assembly elections, Congress candidate Balbir Singh had secured 5,979 votes from Nagrota.
However, the Congress high command’s recent decision to stay out of the bypoll has sparked unease among local leaders and raised fresh questions about the strength of its alliance with the NC.
The local Congress unit was reportedly prepared to field a candidate with NC’s support, but the central leadership intervened, opting to leave both the Nagrota and Budgam Assembly seats to its coalition partner.
“It is too early to say anything at this point. The central leadership is occupied with the Bihar elections, and clarity will emerge only after that,” a senior Congress leader had earlier told The Early Times.
Just hours before the deadline for filing nominations, the Congress officially announced its decision. “The Indian National Congress has decided to leave the Nagrota Assembly seat to its ally, the National Conference, keeping in view the larger interests and the common goal of defeating the BJP,” J&K Congress chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said in a statement.
The statement added that the decision followed “detailed deliberations” within the party, noting that in the 2024 Assembly polls—when both parties contested on a friendly basis—the NC had finished second in Nagrota. “In the spirit of coalition cooperation and the broader objective of defeating the BJP, the central leadership decided to leave the seat to its ally,” it stated.
Following Congress’s withdrawal, the National Conference nominated District Development Council (DDC) member Shamim Begum as its official candidate for the bypoll. |
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