Rahul Gandhi To Kick Off Congress Campaign In J&K With Two Key Rallies

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch his party’s election campaign in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Wednesday, addressing two crucial rallies as the union territory prepares for its Assembly elections. The rallies mark the beginning of the first phase in a three-phase election process.

Gandhi is scheduled to arrive in Jammu via a special plane at 10 a.m. From the airport, he will take a helicopter to Sangaldan in Ramban district, where he will speak at a rally in support of Congress candidate Vikar Rasool Wani around 11 a.m. Sangaldan is part of the Banihal Assembly constituency in the Jammu division.

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Due to a lack of consensus on seat-sharing, both the Congress and the National Conference (NC) have fielded candidates for the Banihal seat. Congress General Secretary Bharatsinh Solanki and state Congress President Tariq Hameed Karra will join Gandhi for the daylong campaign.

Following his address in Sangaldan, Gandhi will travel to the Dooru Assembly constituency in the Anantnag district of Kashmir. He will speak at a rally there at 12:30 p.m., supporting Congress candidate G.A. Mir.

Series Of Campaign

These rallies are the first in a series of campaign events featuring Congress star campaigners. Later in the election cycle, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among the party’s 40 star campaigners in J&K, will also participate in the campaign efforts.

In the first phase of the J&K elections on September 18, three former JKPCC presidents—Vikar Rasool Wani, G.A. Mir, and Peerzada Sayeed—will compete for seats.

The Congress and NC have formed a pre-poll alliance, with NC contesting 52 seats and Congress 31. The alliance has reserved two seats for CPI(M) and the Panthers Party. In five seats—Nagrota, Bhaderwah, Banihal, Doda in the Jammu division, and Sopore in the Kashmir division—the two parties will face off in what they have termed a ‘friendly contest.’

J&K’s Assembly consists of 90 seats, with 47 in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu. Of these, the authorities reserve nine seats for Scheduled Tribes and seven for Scheduled Castes.