Statehood and Democracy: J-K Congress Chief’s Bold Stand Against New Laws

Posted on by Editor-Online
Statehood and Democracy: J-K Congress Chief’s Bold Stand Against New Laws

Tariq Hameed Karra does not dismiss PDP’s offer to support NC-Congress if they follow the party’s “pro-people agenda”, says: “We will have to discuss it with our central leadership and decide”

The Congress placed Tariq Hameed Karra at the helm of its Jammu and Kashmir unit earlier this month, hours after the dates of the three-phase elections were announced. A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Karra defeated National Conference (NC) founding president Farooq Abdullah in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He left the party in 2016 and joined the Congress the following year.

In an interview, Karra talks about the seat-sharing deal with the National Conference (NC), the issues the party will focus on during the campaign, and whether there is a chance for the PDP to join the Opposition alliance in J&K.

Excerpts:

What are the issues the Congress will focus on in these elections?

The main, and paramount, issue is statehood (for J&K). And those laws detrimental to Jammu and Kashmir that have been imposed during this period after democracy was trampled upon. That is also one of the major issues.

The Congress has clinched a seat-sharing deal with the National Conference. How many seats will the party contest in Jammu and the Kashmir Valley?

Nine in the Valley and the rest (23) in the Jammu division.

In the past, the Congress has contested most of the seats falling in the Valley. Has the party been relegated to a Jammu party now?

This alliance has been stitched together in the national interest. It is not just an alliance for governance or seat-sharing. It is an alliance that reflects our ideological stand against the BJP. So, in that case, we can’t say that we are relegated to one division. In that case, you will say that the National Conference is relegated to almost zero seats as far as Jammu is concerned. It is not like that. The larger issues are more important than these seat adjustments.

The PDP is part of the INDIA bloc, as are the Congress and NC. But the PDP is not a part of the alliance in J&K. Did the Congress reach out to the PDP at any point in time?

That is an internal issue. We have always said that we would like to take along everyone who has the same mindset or who has an ideological conflict with the BJP. However, there are certain internal issues between the PDP and the NC that we do not want to get involved in.

What are these internal issues?

They have certain issues that cannot be decided by us. So we would like to keep away from that.

PDP president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti said a few days ago that her party would extend complete electoral support to the NC-Congress alliance if it accepted the PDP’s pro-people agenda. What do you have to say to that?

We will have to discuss it with our central leadership and decide accordingly.

Who is the CM face of the alliance? Is it a given, now that Omar Abdullah is contesting? He headed an NC-Congress coalition government from 2008 to 2014.

We have not aligned for anything like that. The alliance is about ideological unity and these things come second. What is paramount is the agenda which we are fighting against.

The NC in its election manifesto has promised the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A as well as the repeal of the Public Safety Act (PSA). What is the Congress’s position on these issues?

All the political parties come up with their other agenda and manifestoes. The same is the case with the NC or the PDP… The Congress too has its agenda. Whatever we say, we will say within the parameters of our agenda.

Do you not agree with the NC’s promises?

It is not a matter of agreement or not. It is that we want to highlight our agenda and will be seeking votes on that agenda.

Has the Congress spoken to the NC leadership about these promises?

You must have seen that we have been negotiating it (the seat-sharing pact) for quite a long time and Tuesday was the last date for filing nominations for the first phase. So, our first concern was to have unity as far as fighting together is concerned. Maybe that may follow.

Is there any possibility of the two parties coming up with a common manifesto, distilling the points on which you both have the same position?

I don’t think so. Because we are already into the election process and we cannot have these kinds of diversions right and left.

But will there be a common minimum programme if the alliance finds itself in a position to form the government?

There will be a common minimum programme, which will be post-election.

There was speculation some days ago regarding Ghulam Nabi Azad’s return to the Congress.

I have no such information. I didn’t find any such inkling in Delhi as well. As far as I know, it is a closed case.

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