Hours after the Election Commission announced dates for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress nominated former MP Tariq Hameed Karra as the party’s new local unit president
Hours after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced dates for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress nominated former MP and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Tariq Hameed Karra as the party’s new local unit president.
Karra, 69, is a veteran leader who belongs to a prominent political family from Srinagar. A strong critic of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, he had joined Congress in 2017 after quitting the Mehbooba Multi-led party.
He has now replaced 49-year-old Vikar Rasool Wani, who had been handed the reins of the party in August 2022. Wani, however, had been criticised by many senior leaders in the last two years and Congress’ failure to win any seats in the UT during the Lok Sabha polls sealed his fate.
Karra’s electoral record is anchored by him defeating NC president Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 40,000 votes in 2014 on a PDP ticket.
He was a founding member of the PDP, played an important role in its growth in Srinagar, but left the party after its alliance with the BJP. Shortly after joining the Congress, he was nominated as the CWC member and has now been tasked with reviving the party in the region.
Congress had won 12 seats in the 2014 assembly polls, but will be eyeing a much-improved showing. “Karra is a strong leader with a lot of experience and the Congress will get revived under his command,” Congress general secretary Mir Iqbal said.
Many from within the party feel that Karra should lead from the front and contest assembly polls. “Karra has won several elections from Srinagar. Now, he should contest assembly polls to enthuse the cadre. We have been looking for strong leaders to lead the party,” a senior Congress leader not wishing to be named said, adding that the Congress has been riddled by factionalism. “We hope that Karra’s appointment brings factionalism to an end,” the leader added.
Channi Singh, another senior Congress leader, welcomed the appointment before dubbing Karra an “experienced” leader.
Another leader, however, criticised the timing, saying, “This should have been done two or three months ago or delayed till after elections. This won’t go down well with the cadres, especially supporters of Vikar Rasool Wani. Even senior leaders were unaware about the sudden decision.”
Congress local unit’s former president Ghulam Ahmad Mir had earlier in 2022 resigned from his post in June to pave way for the new organisational set-up and Wani was brought in. The top brass from Jammu and Kashmir were summoned to New Delhi to discuss poll preparation and bickerings over Wani’s leadership came to the fore. Congress had contested from two seats, Jammu and Udhampur, in the Lok Sabha polls, but lost both and clamour to replace Wani grew further.
