SRINAGAR: With the likelihood of Assembly elections in J&K in August-September, the Congress has demanded that statehood be restored before the Assembly polls. The party has also authorised its J&K unit to take a call on forging alliances with parties for the Assembly polls, first such exercise in J&K UT.“Without restoration of statehood, polls in J&K would be meaningless. We are seeing the fate of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Our party leaders and other opposition leaders will also be raising the issue forcefully in Parliament,” said senior J&K Congress leader and former MLC Ghulam Nabi Monga.On August 5, 2019, the Centre scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated the erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature). The Supreme Court in December last year directed the Election Commission to hold Assembly polls in J&K before September 30, 2024. Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Congress held a brainstorming session involving its J&K unit and the party leadership in New Delhi last week.A Congress leader, who attended the Delhi meeting, said results of recently held Lok Sabha polls in UT were discussed in detail during the meeting. Although Congress lost both the seats it contested in the Jammu region to the BJP, its vote share increased by 5-10%.
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