Congress to launch mass contact programme to rejuvenate party in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of Congress has decided to revamp and reactivate the organisation at the grass-roots level by carrying out mass contact programmes in every assembly constituency throughout the year, the party said on Sunday.

The decision to this effect was taken at a day-long meeting of the party which was attended by senior leaders including AICC Incharge JK Affairs Bharatsinh Solanki, JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra and AICC General Secretary G A Mir, a party spokesman said.

He said they had threadbare discussions on the assembly elections held last year, organisational affairs and measures to strengthen, revamp and rejuvenate the party.

The National Conference-Congress alliance won the elections but the Congress' performance was dismal as the party was able to win only six seats -- five in Kashmir and one in Jammu - out of the 32 it contested.

The current political situation and the year-long organisational activities were discussed in detail, the spokesman said.

Solanki said at the meeting that the Congress has declared 2025 as the "year of the organisation" and the special focus would be to rebuild the organisation, strengthen the party structure at all levels and remove shortcomings up to booth levels.

He asked party leaders to concentrate on restructuring, reorganisation and revamping the party to prepare it for future elections.

He appreciated Karra for engaging with the grassroots party cadres after the election results to seek their feedback and suggestions for strengthening the party.

“The party could not perform as per expectations but together in alliance (with National Conference), we could checkmate BJP's attempts to create a hung assembly and come to power by divisions and manipulations,” he said.

Solanki said it is victory of “our mission to keep BJP out of power as its ideology is a threat to the basic idea of India -- unity in diversity”. He said Congress has always had a vital role in J-K because of its secular ideology.

Karra referred to challenges before the party and said the organisation would be strengthened at all levels in the days to come.

“Congress has done a lot for J-K… the UPA government led by former prime minister Manmohan Singh supported Jammu and Kashmir in every sector whether linked to power, railway or road connectivity, creation of jobs, health, education and skill development and relief and rehabilitation programmes.

“All major projects being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were initiated by the UPA government but the BJP government could not carry forward those with the same speed while several projects are still pending,” he claimed.

He referred to the demand for the restoration of statehood and asked party cadres to be ready for struggle.

Mir said the Congress is second to none and has "history, legacy and strong ideology suitable for this diverse nation". He asked cadres to get ready for a “bigger fight to achieve the larger goal ahead”.