‘Decision on pre-poll alliance after consultation with senior J&K leaders, central leadership’
Srinagar: Senior Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra on Saturday formally took over as president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) at a function in Delhi.Exclusively, Karra expressed his willingness to contest for any assembly seat in Srinagar, including his political bastion Central Shalteng, formerly Batamaloo—his native place.”My immediate focus would be assembly elections and win seats for my party in Jammu and Kashmir. And whether I run for the elections or not it is left to the discretion of the high command,” he said.Asked about his take on pre-poll alliance with regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the decision would be taken only after the consultation with local leaders and central leadership.“This is a major task and every leader, small or big, will be taken on board on this. And the final call would be of the party high command,” he told KNO.Karra’s statement assumed significance as the National Conference President Farooq Abdullah said he would also contest the upcoming assembly polls held after a gap of ten years.Notably, Karra had won the Lok Sabha election in 2014 from Srinagar by a margin of over 40,000 votes giving the first-ever electoral defeat to Abdullah in four decades.A former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader was also a finance minister of the erstwhile state during the PDP-Congress coalition government.Karra had been against the BJP-PDP alliance and resigned from the Lok Sabha and PDP in 2016. He later joined Congress in February 2017—(KNO)
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