With the Gupkar Alliance and Outside of It: How Congress Pressed Against the Wall


Written by Manoj CG | New Delhi |

Updated: November 18, 2020 10:04:06 am





Gupkar Statement, Gupkar Alliance, Amit Shah on Gupkar Alliance, Gupkar Alliance Congress, DDC Election Congress, Indian ExpressThe President of the State Congress, Ghulam Ahmad Mir

Attacked, Congress said Tuesday that it was not part of the Popular Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD). However, the president of the state Congress, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, said that they had agreements to share seats “at the district level” with many parties, including NC and PDP, which are part of the PAGD, for the District Development Council elections. (DDC).

Meanwhile, Congress remained ambivalent about the demand to restore Article 370. Remarks by the Interior Minister, Amit Shah on Tuesday they are being seen as an attempt to push Congress against the wall and force it to take a clear position on the issue.

“Congress is not part of the Gupkar Alliance or the People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration,” the head of the congressional communication department, Randeep Surjewala, said in a statement.

Talking to The Indian Express, said Congress was not challenging the DDC elections in alliance with the PAGD. “There is no electoral understanding with the Gupkar alliance … we will fight alone,” he said.

But Mir said Congress had a “district-level alliance” with different parties. “Our alliance is not with Gupkar. Our alliance is at the district level and it is with parties that have influence there. Different parties have influence in different districts… Our district leaders are doing it at the district level, ”he said.

“In different districts, we have agreements to share seats with different local, regional and smaller parties that have influence in those districts. Not limited to NC or PDP. There are a dozen and a half parties in the state. Whether they are in Kashmir or Jammu, Kashmir-centric or Jammu-centric, Congress is everywhere, ”he said.

But Mir also emphasized that Congress was not part of the PAGD. “We have never participated in any of the PAGD meetings, so how can we be part of the alliance? We are in deliberations for some seats, based on the possibility of winning. There are seats where their candidates seem stronger, so we can support them, ”he said.

READ ALSO | Amit Shah says the Gupkar alliance is a gang, and Cong will bring terror back

Last week, Congress had joined the seat-sharing discussions with the PAGD. While the PAGD’s first list of 17 candidates did not include Congress, the second list of 27, announced on November 15, had three candidates for Congress.

The list for the third phase (16 seats), announced on Tuesday, also did not have any candidates for Congress. Sources said Congress had sought Hiller’s (Anantnag) seat, but ultimately went to the NC.

Opinion within Congress about their flirtation with the PAGD has been sharply divided since their local leadership joined the NC, PDP and the People’s Conference and became part of the joint statement issued in August this year saying they would fight for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.

The unrest deepened after North Carolina leader Farooq Abdullah was reported to have said that Chinese aggression throughout LAC was due to the repeal of Article 370 and hoped that Chinese pressure would result in the restoration of Articles 370 and 35 A; and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti said she will raise the Tricolor only when the J&K flag is restored.

Gupkar Statement, Gupkar Alliance, Amit Shah on Gupkar Alliance, Gupkar Alliance Congress, DDC Election Congress, Indian Express The signatories to the Gupkar Declaration have come together as the ‘People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration’ to challenge the changes introduced in J&K on August 5, 2019 (Express photo: Shuaib Masoodi).

Asked about his remarks, Surjewala said: “Congress opposes anyone who seeks interference in our territory by any foreign power. We are also against anyone who does not respect our national flag. “

Opinion within the party on the repeal of Article 370 is also divided. Although Congress had opposed the decision in Parliament, the Congressional Work Committee subsequently qualified its position, sensing the public’s mood and taking into account the opinions of various leaders, most of them young, who later they publicly supported the Center’s decision.

At its meeting on August 6, 2019, the CWC had attacked the government for the way in which Article 370 was repealed and J&K split, but refrained from demanding the restoration of Article 370.

“The CWC deplores the unilateral, blatant and totally undemocratic way in which Article 370 of the Constitution was repealed and the State of Jammu and Kashmir dismembered by misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution. All the principles of constitutional law, the rights of States, parliamentary procedure and democratic governance were violated ”, he had said.

The CWC had argued that Article 370 is the constitutional recognition of the terms of the Instrument of Accession between the State of Jammu and Kashmir and India, and deserved to be honored until it was amended, after consulting with all sectors of the people, and strictly in accordance with the Constitution.

In response to a question, Surjewala said that the CWC had clarified the party’s position on section 370. “I am not authorized to add or subtract from the CWC statement. The CWC’s resolution is the party’s position, ”he said.

In a counterattack, Surjewala asked Shah to explain why the BJP had formed a coalition government with the PDP. He said Shah and the Modi government needed new lessons in patriotism and argued that the RSS had not hoisted the Tricolor at its headquarters for 52 years.
Last month, while hailing the “joining together of the major regional J&K parties to wage a constitutional battle to restore the rights of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” party leader P Chidambaram tweeted that “Congress also resolutely advocates restoration of the status and rights of the people of J&K. The arbitrary and unconstitutional decisions of the Modi government of August 5, 2019 must be rescinded. “

Party sources had described it then as his personal opinion.

– With input from Naveed Iqbal, Srinagar

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