The fragile partnership between the National Conference (NC) and the Congress Party (INC) in Jammu and Kashmir appears to be under threat with an exasperated Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressing his chagrin over the Congress unilaterally deciding to launch a drive to demand the restoration of statehood.
“Let the Congress talk to us first if they want our support in their campaign for the restoration of statehood. We are only reading about it in newspapers. No one has spoken to us,” Abdullah told media testily while on a visit to the Safapora area of Bandipora district.
The relationship between NC and the Congress has been an uneasy one since the time it was formed ten months ago in the run-up to the September-October 2024 assembly elections. Though both parties have kept the BJP and its allies out of power successfully, their tie-up has been a stormy one, frequently fraught with differences over several issues.
The strain in the alliance has been there since October last year after the INC opted to give only outside support to the NC-led government in J&K.
The working relationship between the two parties can be described as frosty and distant at best, though they are coordinating on floor management in the assembly and appear to be on the same page on some lesser important issues.
The Congress’ move to go it alone on the statehood issue suggests signs of a political alignment coming apart slowly but surely, as both parties are functioning as parallel forces more rather than as a united coalition.
Political observers and analysts have opined that both parties (NC or Congress) trusts the other completely, and what should naturally have been a joint objective to achieve, is more distant now than it has ever been, suiting the BJP and its allies to a tee.
The restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir has been a longstanding one for all mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir. The National Conference and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have consistently flagged the issue in all public forums, but with the Congress deciding to go ahead with protest campaign across the Union Territory and in other parts of the country, questions are being asked over the alleged absence of co-ordination and coherence.
The NC has highlighted that the Congress had failed that on previous occasions to raise the statehood issue at INDIA bloc meetings, but was now flagging it alone to regain lost political influence in the region.
Both the NC and the Congress publicly say that their coalition is intact, but differences on policy priorities have raised questions about the alliance sustaining itself long-term.
There are now fears that the upcoming panchayat and municipal polls in J&K will see the differences between the Congress and the National Conference becoming starker, as both are keen to retain their dominant positions politically in a very challenging and surcharged environment.