The Diplomat Desk
Srinagar, (TDD) : The Congress party has initiated disciplinary actions against some leaders for opposing the party’s decision to form an alliance with the National Conference (NC) for the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Party leaders said they were issued show cause notices after failing to provide adequate responses.
This alliance, organized by the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi along with NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, contains a seat-sharing agreement.
Despite high-level coordination, some of the Congress leaders, who had been expecting to contest the elections on a party ticket, had expressed dissatisfaction and opted for running as independent candidates.
Now, around a dozen Congress members are fielding candidates on their own against the NC-Congress alliance candidates in the Kashmir region.
The details available said five key party members in Srinagar, including District President Imtiyaz Khan and General Secretary Waseem Shalla, are among those defecting. More and more, former members, including Ismail Khan Ashana in Bandipora and Youth Leader Asif Ahmad in Anantnag West, have also joined the list of rebels.
The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee reacted sharply to this party infidelity and called upon the concerned members to respond within three days; else they will face disciplinary actions.
Interestingly, internal friction has also been reported in the National Conference. Leaders of various NC candidates have openly declared that they would contest against alliance candidates sponsored by Congress, keeping party affiliation aside. A glaring example is that of Dr. Bilquees Mir contesting against Nizam-U-Din Bhat, who recently defected from the People’s Conference to NC.—(TDD)
