The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) is set to launch an intensified campaign from Monday, demanding the restoration of statehood and alleging that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has employed “dodging and diversionary tactics” to evade accountability.
The campaign, titled ‘Samvidhan Bachao’ (Save the Constitution), will span over six weeks and be conducted across all districts and assembly constituencies of the Union territory.
The party said the movement will aim to educate citizens about the Centre’s failures on multiple fronts, including employment, inflation and taxation, while also pressing for statehood restoration.
JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra has devised a detailed campaign plan following directions from the All India Congress Committee (AICC). A preparatory meeting has been convened for April 22 at the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters, where Congress leaders from all blocks and districts will finalise an extended campaign schedule.
A key event under the programme will be a provincial-level rally in Jammu on 29 April, aimed at highlighting what Congress calls the Modi-led government’s “onslaught on the Constitution”.
Speaking on the matter, Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said, “We had always said statehood must be restored. Now that the government is in place, why is there a delay? We have already protested and will continue to fight for Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.”
Hussain also confirmed that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge would soon write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally request restoration of full statehood to the region.
In recent months, both Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have reiterated that statehood would be restored “soon”, but there has been no official timeline announced. The Congress party has maintained that the ongoing delay betrays the Centre’s lack of political will to honour its promise.
Karra also reviewed the damages caused by recent cloudbursts and windstorms in the region. During the internal meeting, he urged the administration to provide ex gratia relief to affected families and called for an efficient and transparent disaster response mechanism.
As political momentum builds ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress’s campaign appears aimed not only at pressing for statehood but also at regaining political traction in a region where political disenchantment runs deep following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
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