Congress undecided on strategy as Rajya Sabha poll approaches

With just two days remaining for the Rajya Sabha (RS) polls, the Congress remains undecided on its approach even as the National Conference (NC) is holding meetings to discuss the strategy for the election. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its 28 MLAs is expected to leave no stone unturned to make efforts to expand its influence in the region.

Insiders in the Congress say that the party was annoyed after its ally NC snubbed the former by offering an “unsafe” Raya seat. The Congress decided not to contest the polls and issued a public statement expressing its displeasure over the issue. The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) unit of the Congress has already informed the central leadership about the matter.

Skips NC meeting

While talking to the media after a legislature party meeting in Srinagar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the Congress skipped the meeting, which was attended by independents supporting the NC and CPI legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, to discuss the Rajya Sabha polls strategy. The Congress held a separate meeting, he said, while adding, “Every party has a different way of working. Their (Congress) leadership in the J&K has to wait for the signal from their high command. This is not new and there is no issue.”

While the NC is sure of victory on three of the four RS seats, it needs support of its alliance partners, including six Congress legislators, to win the fourth seat. The BJP is also making efforts to woo the independent MLAs in the Assembly ahead of the polls. The Congress holds importance with its MLAs and may become a deciding factor for the fourth seat.

The NC has 41 MLAs in the Assembly and also has support of one CPI (M) legislator and four independents, besides six Congress MLAs.

The fall-out of the snub on the RS seat sharing has extended to Nagrota bypoll where the Congress refused to field its candidate despite the fact that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah publicly expressed willingness to leave the seat for the party. The NC had to field its own candidate. However, no Congress leader has so far went to the constituency to campaign for the NC candidate. The election for the constituency will be held on November 11.

“As the Assembly session will begin on Thursday and the polls to Rajya Sabha seats will be held on Friday, we have been invited in the meeting to discuss the strategy for the elections. However, we are in touch with the central leadership to take any decision regarding the strategy on the polls,” said a senior Congress leader.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has three MLAs, is yet to announce its strategy for the polls. The J&K Assembly has a total of 90 seats with two vacant constituencies that will go to bypoll on November 11.