Cong open to talks with like-minded parties to strike 'respectable alliance' for J-K polls: Karra

NEW DELHI: The Congress is open to talks with like-minded parties to strike a "respectable alliance" for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls but the parameters for such a tie-up would be different from the Lok Sabha elections, party's newly-appointed J&K chief Tariq Hameed Karra said on Monday.

In an interview with PTI, Karra also said Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party has been "outrightly rejected" by the people who have "punished" the outfit for the "idea of leaving the Congress".

The former MP said "restoration of statehood" is of "paramount" importance for the Congress and accused the Centre of taking the "unconstitutional" step of relegating a state to a Union Territory.

Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.

Asked if the Congress will align with parties such as the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Karra said, "The previous coalition (for parliamentary polls) had different parameters; it was at the national level and parameters are always different between parliamentary elections and assembly elections."

"So, we will have to talk within ourselves also, to my leadership in Jammu and Kashmir. We have been given assurance by the leadership here in Delhi that there shall be a respectable alliance because the parameters fixed at that time (parliamentary polls) were different which I don't think would be applicable this time," he told PTI.

"We have to start discussions immediately after assuming charge and I have to have discussions with my colleagues and then only we will decide.

"We are open to talks with like-minded parties who are fighting against the hegemonic attitude of the BJP. We are open to that. We have to have a respectable alliance but the parameters are different this time," Karra asserted.

The NC and the Congress forged an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. However, Mehbooba Mufti's PDP was not part of the alliance and had accused the NC of violating the spirit of the Gupkar alliance.

Karra, 69, belongs to a prominent political family from Srinagar. He had joined the Congress in 2017 after quitting the Mehbooba Multi-led party.

Karra was a strong critic of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.

Karra had won the Lok Sabha election from Srinagar in 2014, handing National Conference's Farooq Abdullah his first-ever electoral defeat in four decades.

"I have been appointed PCC chief at this juncture and I am very happy that the Congress party as a whole, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Kharge in particular, have bestowed trust in me. Now I don't think there is any time to take on other organisational work. It is time to jump into the election fray directly," Karra said.

As far as the prospects of the Congress are concerned, Karra said former party chief Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra has earned a huge amount of goodwill in J&K.

"Even in Parliament elections, which were fought on that goodwill factor, we did not get any direct benefit of that but others did get the benefit of that goodwill factor of Rahul Gandhi. "I am very optimistic that the environment there, the mood of the people, the national scenario, factoring in all those, the Congress party will fare very well in the coming elections," he asserted.

Talking about the issues the Congress would fight the assembly polls on, Karra said political stands are very clear as far as the Congress is concerned and it wants full restoration of democracy.

"They have to restore statehood... also laws which were forced on us have to be looked into. Those things have to be taken into consideration," he said.

Karra accused the BJP of having a "step-motherly" attitude towards Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that it has always used the Union Territory for minting votes countrywide.

"We have to highlight these things. People in general are fed up with the kind of attitude they have been met with by the BJP," he said.

The J-K Congress chief said restoration of statehood is the "paramount" issue as the people had been "denied" something which is their right.

"This is the first time a full state has been reduced to a UT. In the Constitution, there is mention of converting a UT into a state but no mention of converting a state into a UT. So this break up of the state... such unconstitutional things they have done," he said.

Asked about former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's party, Karra said, "People have outrightly rejected that party. The idea of leaving the Congress has been totally rejected and they have been punished for that."

Talking about the rising terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir recently, Karra said people have been suffering from militancy for the last three decades.

"At the time of abrogation of Article 370, the BJP had blown the trumpet that henceforth there will be no militancy, henceforth there would be room for development, henceforth there would be investment but now the whole world is seeing how much the militancy has been curbed. The only thing that has happened is the changing of goalposts," Karra said.

The terror incidents are a "direct failure" of the central government as well as the state administration, he said, adding that it is a very "grave concern" for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

While Karra has replaced Wani as the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, party president Kharge has also appointed two working presidents for Jammu and Kashmir -- Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla.

The three-phase elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly will be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1.

The Congress is hoping to continue with its political revival by inflicting losses on the BJP in the Jammu region where the two parties are the main contestants.

Two regional parties, the National Conference and PDP, have won most of the seats in the Kashmir valley between them in the past elections.

In the last assembly in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, the BJP won 25 of its 87 seats and joined hands with the PDP to form a government under the leadership of the regional party's leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly now has 90 seats following delimitation.