Strain signals in Congress-NC tie-up

SRINAGAR: Signs of strain have emerged in the Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance in J&K after a Congress candidate slammed the ally and a video emerged of an NC MP purportedly disagreeing with the tie-up.

Vikar Rasool Wani, Congress’s nominee in Jammu’s Banihal seat, lashed out at NC Sunday, terming it “a party of killers”. “This is why the flag of NC is red, like blood,” Wani, a former J&K Congress chief, said at a rally. Current J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra condemned Wani’s “derogatory remarks”. “Congress disassociates itself from such statements,” Karra said in a statement.

Overall, NC will contest 51 of J&K’s 90 seats and Congress 32 in the assembly polls from Sept 18 to Oct 1. The two parties have agreed to “friendly contests” in some seats and set aside a few others for smaller parties. Banihal is one of the “friendly fight” seats. NC has fielded Sajjad Shaheen there.

Separately, in the video, a person purported to be NC’s Anantnag-Rajouri MP Mian Altaf Ahmed is heard sharply criticising his party’s alliance with Congress. The clip’s authenticity could not be established. Altaf was not available for comment.

Much of the spotlight, though, stayed on Wani’s comments as Congress scrambled to defuse a potential escalation with NC. Karra, the JKPCC chief, emphasised his “party’s respect” for NC stalwarts “late Sheikh Mohd Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah”, calling the latter one of J&K’s most senior and respected political figures.

Karra reiterated that Congress and NC were contesting the upcoming elections together against BJP, “united in their efforts to safeguard the dignity and rights of the people of J&K”. He called for maintaining dignity and decorum in speeches. “Such statements (like Wani’s) are unacceptable and undermine the principles of democracy and mutual respect in political discourse,” Karra said.

However, NC’s Banihal nominee Shaheen hit back at Wani’s tirade, declaring that his party would be “tough” on the Congress candidate and accusing him of having done little in his previous two terms as local MLA.