Former alliance partners Congress and National Conference are expected to give a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly polls by forging a pre-poll alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge are both arriving here on a two-day visit to explore the possibilities of sealing the deal with the National Conference.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Election Commission of India issued a notification for the first phase of polling across 24 Assembly segments on September 18.
The party Chief and Rahul Gandhi are also scheduled to attend an interactive session with party Leaders, delegates, block Presidents and other senior Leaders on Wednesday to chalk out their election campaign strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections. The duo will leave for Srinagar the same evening to hold parleys with the party Leaders in the valley.
A preliminary discussion has already been held between the Leaders of both parties in Srinagar.
During their visit to Srinagar on Thursday the Congress Leaders are expected to hold parleys with the top brass of the National Conference to discuss the contours of the pre-poll alliance.
On Tuesday, newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Tariq Hamid Qarra said, "We have kept our doors open to all like-minded parties that stand against the hegemony and dictatorial attitude of the BJP. To facilitate this, we have formed a committee that will establish parameters to ensure that the interests of the people of J&K and the Indian National Congress are safeguarded," he said.The National Conference and the Congress party had contested the recently held Lok Sabha elections in alliance. The NC won two seats in the valley while Congress faced defeat on both seats in Jammu province.
Scrutiny of the Lok Sabha results revealed the National Conference and the Congress party garnered majority votes from at least 41 out of 90 Assembly segments.
The Bharatiya Janta Party, despite winning both the Lok Sabha seats of the Jammu region, fell short of at least 16 seats to reach the halfway mark of 45 in a 90-member legislature.
The Bharatiya Janta Party polled majority votes from 29 Assembly segments of Jammu-Reasi and Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seats.