J&K polls: Rahul Gandhi visits Srinagar’s famous restaurant, visits Lal Chowk

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to meet party workers ahead of the assembly election, had dinner with his colleagues at Srinagar’s Ahdoos restaurant last evening and later enjoyed ice cream at Lal Chowk.
Ahdoos is considered one of the well-known restaurants in the city, famous for its Kashmiri ‘Wazwan’ specialties. During the visit, extensive security was deployed around the hotel, which has a view of the Jhelum River.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge landed in Srinagar on Wednesday and were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd.Both leaders are scheduled to chair a meeting with party workers in Srinagar on Thursday at 10am and later address a press conference at 11.30am. They will then fly to Jammu at 2.15pm to meet with its leaders.
Political activities in the region have gained momentum as both the Congress and BJP explore alliance options with like-minded parties. The Congress leadership is expected to hold meetings with leaders of the National Conference and the Peoples’ Democratic Party, both of which are part of the INDIA bloc.The Bharatiya Janata Party has sent its leader, Ram Madhav, to Srinagar to engage with local leaders ahead of the polls. Madhav played a key role in forming the PDP-BJP alliance in 2015, working closely with Mufti Sayeed and later with Mehbooba Mufti.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on August 16 announced that the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections will be held in three phases with results to be declared on October 4.
Polling for the first phase will be held on September 18, the second phase on September 25, and the final phase on October 1.
Jammu and Kashmir has 87.09 lakh eligible electors including 44.46 lakh males, 42.62 lakh females, and 3.71 lakh first-time voters. Polling will be held at 11,800 polling stations across the Union Territory.
The UT has been without an elected government since June 2018, when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke its alliance with Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister.