Senior Congress and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has said that his party and the INDIA block are committed to ensure the restoration of statehood to Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible.

According to a Kashmir Media Service report on Friday, Gandhi speaking to media in Srinagar, said: ‘It is our priority in the Congress party and also in the INDIA block, to restore Statehood in Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible.’

He said that Congress was expecting statehood prior to Assembly polls but ‘polls were announced which is a step forward.’ ‘We hope to see democracy restored,’ he said, and reiterated that it was for the first time since independence that a state was reduced to a Union Territory.

‘I have heard and seen UTs being converted into states but J and K is an exception. We have made it clear in our election manifesto that it was our priority to restore the democratic rights of people of J and K and Ladakh.’

Speaking on the occasion, All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief, Malikarjun Kharge said that efforts are on to forge an alliance on the basis of feedback from ‘our local leaders.’ ‘We want to keep the entire opposition along,’ he said. Kharge said that Congress is committed to ensure the return of statehood.

He said that BJP couldn’t ensure elections in J and K. ‘The party announced polls under pressure in the wake of Supreme Court directions,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Kharge and Rahul, who arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday late afternoon, left for Jammu where they will meet the party leaders and workers.