Rahul Gandhi, Ram Madhav in Srinagar today as Jammu and Kashmir assembly election looms

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday evening on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the party's preparations for the upcoming assembly polls in the Union Territory and explore a likely alliance with the National Conference.

RSS leader and former Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary, Ram Madhav, who has been appointed as election in-charge for the upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, is also in Srinagar on a two-day visit.

The three-phase assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to begin with the first round on September 18. The other two rounds are scheduled on September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on August 4.

Rahul, Kharge dined at Ahdoos Hotel

Rahul and Kharge received a rousing welcome upon their arrival here, and party activists and supporters lined up outside the airport. The two leaders had dinner at iconic Ahdoos Hotel in Lal Chowk, the heart of the Srinagar on Wesnesday. Ahdoos hotel is famous for Kashmiri Wazwan.

Gandhi is expected to address a worker's meeting in Srinagar before issuing a press statement at a Srinagar hotel today, before flying to Jammu for election-related meetings. The two leaders will take feedback from party workers about the grassroots-level preparations for the elections which are being held in the UT after a gap of ten years, a Congress leader was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

They are also likely to meet National Conference (NC) leadership to discuss a possible pre-poll alliance, party sources said.

Madhav seeks feedback

On the first day of his Srinagar trip, Ram Madhav sought feedback from different stakeholders but did not hold any meetings with BJP leadership here, according to local media reports. Madhav is expected to fly back to Delhi today with a possible meeting with BJP leaders before his departure.

Madhav shares the responsibility of BJP's election in-charge for the upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir along with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy.

Madhav is returning with responsibility in the erstwhile state where he was instrumental in forming BJP's unlikely coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 after the assembly polls threw up a hung verdict.

The alliance broke in 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support to then-chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's PDP. This also marks Madhav's return to active politics.

(With PTI inputs)