Congress forged alliance with NC due to its 'lust for power', says Uttarakhand CM Dhami

Dehradun: The Congress has forged an alliance with the National Conference for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections due to its “lust for power”, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Saturday.

Dhami also posed 10 questions to the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi and asked them to explain why the party had allied with the National Conference and the Abdullah family.

He claimed that the Abdullahs had “pushed back” Jammu and Kashmir for three decades and “ruined” it.

Describing the National Conference as a party that has fomented separatism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Dhami said, “(Rahul) Gandhi owes an explanation to the nation whether by entering into an alliance with the National Conference he is supporting the party's promise of a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of Article 370.” “Gandhi and his party must explain whether they want to plunge Jammu and Kashmir back into disorder. Does he support separatism and cross-border terrorism and the National Conference's decision to resume trade with Pakistan?” Dhami asked at a press conference.

He also described the Congress as a party that has always played with the unity and integrity of the country due to its lust for power.

Dhami claimed that the alliance revealed the real intentions of the Congress.

He said the Congress had spread a lie during the Lok Sabha elections that if the Narendra Modi government came back to power at the Centre, the reservation system would end.

“Could he (Rahul Gandhi) explain whether by entering into an alliance with the National Conference he is supporting its agenda of ending quota for Gujjar Bakarwals and hill people of Jammu and Kashmir?” Dhami asked.

Elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held in three phases – on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Thursday announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Regional party vice president Omar Abdullah said on Friday that the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress had been finalised for majority of the constituencies and talks were underway to reach a consensus on the rest.