Alliance talks on the table as Rahul Gandhi, Kharge arrive in Srinagar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday arrived in Srinagar for their two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. The visit holds significance given that an alliance between the Congress and the National Conference is on the cards ahead of the assembly polls.
The duo was welcomed by enthused party workers at the airport and various locations in the city. They headed to the Grand Palace hotel on the banks of Dal Lake.
“We welcomed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. A meeting will be held on Thursday morning between Rahul Gandhi and local leaders and elections and alliance will be discussed,” Congress’s local unit vice-president Ghulam Nabi Monga said.
Notably, the Congress has already initiated talks on seat sharing with the National Conference. The party’s newly appointed local unit president Tariq Hameed Karra had on Monday said the party wants to forge an electoral alliance with like-minded political parties including the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party.
“To my knowledge the NC has already approached our central leadership,” Karra had said on Monday.
A senior Congress leader, meanwhile, said most party leaders were in favour of an alliance with the NC but talks have also been opened with other parties.
According to sources, Gandhi and Kharge may also hold a late-night meeting either with NC vice-president Omar Abdullah or president Farooq Abdullah to discuss alliance.
NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar neither denied nor confirmed the possibility of the meeting.
Notably, neither the Congress nor the NC, who contested the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance have announced names of any candidates so far. PDP and the Apni Party, meanwhile, have taken the lead in announcing candidates.
Omar had on Monday said while talks with Congress are underway at the highest level, no party can “force” them to ally with another party.
On Tuesday, the notification for the first phase of assembly elections, during which 24 seats will go for polls on September 18, was also announced.