Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, May 6: National Conference candidate for Baramulla constituency Omar Abdullah today said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to make Sajjad Lone the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018 after the party pulled out of the coalition Government with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The junior Abdullah said this while addressing a rally in the Langate area of Kupwara in Baramulla constituency today.
“Who came to support my opponent in this election, who is trying to defame me everywhere? Who wrote the letter to the Governor to make him the CM? It was the BJP. Can Lone deny that he was not the CM candidate of the BJP in 2018? Today also it is the BJP that is helping him. Ravinder Raina comes here. What for? They do not have a candidate here,” he added.
“The situation at that time was such that Altaf Bukhari, on behalf of the PDP, came to meet the National Conference. He sought help saying that they wanted to stop the conspiracy of the Centre. The NC extended support for making Altaf Bukhari the Chief Minister,” he said.
Abdullah said that if his party’s candidates get elected to the Lok Sabha they would be committed to fight the “BJP’s hate-mongering politics” and for restoration of rights and dignity of people of J&K.
The junior Abdullah said that a conspiracy had been hatched and “we are being dragged back into economic slavery”.
“Our lands are in danger and our youth do not get employment. If you visit a government office, you will not find any locals. All the officers come from outside. You try to get a work tender, you won’t get it. Even the works for sand lifting from the rivers are given to outsiders while locals are ignored,” he said.
Abdullah said that his party will fight for the existence, identity and rights of people of J&K. “It is only the NC candidates who are committing that if they are elected, their every word and deed will be against the BJP’s hate-mongering politics. We will fight for our existence, our identity and our rights,” he said.
The NC candidate dared Lone to commit publicly that he will not help the BJP in case he is elected to Parliament.
“The organisation which has spread hate and poison against Muslims in this country, why does he not dissociate himself from that party? Why does he not announce that if elected, he will never support the BJP? He will never do it because he cannot do it,” he said.
Abdullah claimed that while the BJP had launched an “onslaught” on the people of J&K and their identity, the political parties here have reserved all criticism for the NC.
“Every wrong done to J&K has been done by the BJP. Article 370 was removed by the Centre, our identity is under attack by Delhi. But they (Sajad Lone) will still target the NC. You will never find them criticising the BJP. You will have to ask them what is their compulsion for all this. What favours are they trying to return to the BJP?” he said.
The former CM said that attacks like in Surankote falsifies BJP claims of improved security in J&K post abrogation of Article 370.
“If BJP claims improved security, how do they explain the attack on Air Force personnel in Surankote? Despite efforts, militancy persists in areas we had made secure during my tenure as Chief Minister. Srinagar, Poonch, Rajouri-these areas have witnessed targeted killings and militant attacks in recent years. It will take time to curb militancy here,” he said.
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