Rahul Gandhi, Kharge begin J-K visit ahead of Assembly polls

Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the party's preparations for the upcoming Assembly polls in the Union Territory, and explore a likely alliance with the National Conference.

The Congress leaders received a rousing welcome upon their arrival in Srinagar, with party activists and supporters lining up outside the airport. The enthusiastic supporters even stopped Gandhi's vehicle on the airport road, causing some anxious moments for the security personnel escorting him.

The two leaders are visiting the UT for key meetings in connection with the three-phased assembly elections beginning 18 September, a senior Congress leader said. There were no official meetings scheduled for the two leaders for Wednesday, he said.

The two leaders will engage in extensive discussions with party leaders and workers of 10 districts of the Kashmir valley on Thursday. The meetings will begin at 10.00 am, after which the two are likely to interact with the media in Srinagar.

They are also likely to meet National Conference (NC) leadership to discuss a possible pre-poll alliance, party sources said. However, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Karra said the visit of the two leaders was planned well before the election schedule was announced. "This visit has no relation to (discussions on) the alliance."

After wrapping up interactions here, Gandhi and Kharge will fly to Jammu to continue their interactions with the cadres of 10 districts in the Jammu region. The two leaders will take feedback from party workers about the grassroots-level preparations for the elections which are being held in the UT after a gap of 10 years, a Congress leader said.

"This programme was decided even before the declaration of the election (dates) and only dates were to be finalised. This programme by Rahul ji and party president is to interact with the party workers so they are here," Karra told reporters outside Hotel Lalit where the Congress' central leaders are staying.

Asked about any invitation to PDP for a meeting with the leaders, Karra said such things happen after internal discussions and decisions within the party. "I cannot say anything on that," he added. He said the Congress party's stand is that "we are open (for alliance) to all forces, parties and persons who oppose the BJP. We are ready to talk to all the like-minded parties," Karra said.

Meanwhile, the BJP asked Rahul Gandhi to clear his party's stand on Article 370 and Article 35A during his visit. BJP general-secretary Tarun Chugh, who is his party's organisational in-charge for the Union Territory, said Gandhi's visit will introduce him to the "peace and development" ushered in the region by the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He alleged that three families, a reference to the leadership of Congress, the National Conference and the PDP, have over the last several decades stoked embers of separatism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir with their policies before the BJP government at the Centre turned things around in 2014.