Rahul Gandhi to hold two poll rallies in J&K today

Srinagar, Sep 23 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is slated to address two election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday ahead of the second phase of the Assembly polls, scheduled for September 25.

The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha will address his first public rally in Poonch's Surankote at 12:00 noon followed by another in Srinagar's Shalteng at 1:30 p.m.

Sources said that the Congress will first arrive in Srinagar on Monday morning in a special chartered flight and then will take a helicopter to fly to Surankote from Srinagar.

They added that after addressing the campaign rally in Surankote, he would fly back in the helicopter to Srinagar.

"He will address a party campaign rally in the central Shalteng constituency of Srinagar district in the afternoon. JKPCC chief, Tariq Hamid Karra is fighting the election from this Assembly constituency. He will then leave for New Delhi in the special chartered flight in the evening," Congress sources told IANS.

National Conference (NC) and the Congress have entered into a pre-poll alliance in J&K. The NC is contesting on 52 seats while the Congress will be fighting in 31 constituencies.

They are not fielding any candidate in two seats, leaving one in the Valley for CPI-M and the other in the Jammu division for the Panthers Party.

The NC-Congress alliance could not reach a consensus on five seats of Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda in Jammu division and Sopore in the Valley.

The two parties have fielded candidates in these constituencies who will engage in a friendly contest.

Voting for the second phase of the J&K Assembly elections will take place on September 25 while the third and the last phase is slated for October 1. Counting will take place on October 8.