INDIA bloc’s partners in Jammu and Kashmir are maintaining a stoic silence over the return to the Congress of controversial leader Choudhary Lal Singh — who had defended the rapists and murderers of an eight-year-old minority Bakerwal girl in Kathua in 2018.

The rape-and-murder case had triggered outrage across the country but thousands led by some BJP leaders, including Choudhary, had rallied in support of the accused
in Jammu.

Choudhary is a two-time MP and has served as minister in previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir. He is likely to get a Congress ticket for the Lok Sabha
from Udhampur.

Choudhary had a decades-long association with the Congress before he joined the BJP in 2014. He was heading the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, a party he has now merged with the Congress.

“I will not speak on it. This is Congress’s internal issue. It’s better if you ask this question to the Congress,” National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said in Srinagar on Thursday.

Social media handles of the Peoples Democratic Party too were silent on the
development.