Congress launches statehood campaign for IOJK ahead of upcoming parliament session
New Delhi: The Indian National Congress, under the leadership of its president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, has launched a concerted effort to rally opposition parties in support of restoring full statehood to Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Indian Parliament.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the move follows a joint letter by Kharge and Gandhi to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to introduce legislation to grant full statehood to IOJK and to include Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Congress’s campaign, which includes a series of protests and a high-profile ‘Chalo Delhi’ movement, underscores the party’s determination to make the restoration of statehood a central issue in the upcoming parliamentary session, scheduled to begin on July 21 and conclude on August 12. The initiative has garnered support from key IOJK parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as well as the broader INDIA bloc, which collectively commands 233 MPs in Parliament.
The Congress has framed the statehood demand as a non-negotiable commitment, citing public assurances made by Indian Prime Minister Modi. The party also pointed to the Supreme Court’s directive to restore statehood “as soon as possible,” a timeline it argues has long expired.
To amplify the issue, the IOJK Congress chapter, led by President Tariq Hameed Karra, has planned a series of protests to build momentum. On Saturday (today), the party will hold demonstrations in Kashmir, followed by protests in Jammu on July 20. The campaign will culminate in the ‘Chalo Delhi’ movement on July 21, where Congress workers from every block and district of IOJK will converge in the Indian capital to “symbolically gherao” Parliament.
