The parasitic character of the Congress party is forcing it to align with the National Conference. Like in other parts of the country, the Congress party lost its mass base in Jammu & Kashmir swiftly.
The Congress party was once in Jammu & Kashmir was a strong party. The Congress party won the 1967 and 1972 Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with a massive mandate. However, since 1977, the Congress party has lost its relevance and is now only a minor player in state politics.
The plight of the Congress party can be assessed from the fact that since the last three Lok Sabha elections the Congress party is not able to open its account in Lok Sabha from the State. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress party did not open its account in Jammu & Kashmir even when Ladakh was part of the State and the State had six Lok Sabha seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, when the State of Jammu & Kashmir had six Lok Sabha and 87 Assembly seats, the Congress party established lead on 16 Assembly Constituencies, while in 2024, the number of such seats on which the Congress party established lead came down to only seven.
The Congress party forged a broad coalition with the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha election but these parties contested against each other. In Kashmir valley, on all three Lok Sabha seats, the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) contested against each other. The Congress party had deceived the PDP in the Lok Sabha elections and engineered the victory of the NC on two seats at the cost of the PDP. The PDP did not understand the plot of the Gandhi and Abdullah families at that time and was forced to pay the price.
From multiple instances, it became obvious that the Congress party had no hope of winning seats in the Jammu region, so the entire hope of the Congress party was in Kashmir valley. The NC’s entire hope lies in the Kashmir valley, so in all probability, there will be a big clash for seat adjustment between the NC and the Congress party in the Kashmir valley.
The Congress party will also try to grab maximum seats in Kashmir valley as the Congress party had no chance in the Jammu region. In such circumstances, we cannot rule out the possibility of a friendly contest between the NC and the Congress party in Kashmir valley and, consequently, in the Jammu division too. Sensing that in the Jammu region, the party has no chance, the Congress party will blackmail the NC on multiple fronts to contest maximum seats within the alliance in Kashmir valley. The Congress party is adamant about going in alliance with the NC as it fears that, like multiple States like Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, West Bengal, and NCT of Delhi, the Congress party may also not get any seats in Jammu & Kashmir.
The Congress party’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll was highly dismal, and the Congress party, by contesting on two seats of Udhampur and Jammu Lok Sabha seats, virtually contested 38 Assembly seats but established a lead on only 7 Assembly Constituency and lost the Lok Sabha seats.
