Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 17: Stung by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s accusation on personal favours, the State Bharatiya Janata Party today threatened to move the court and file defamation suit against the CM for allegedly maligning image of the party MLAs and hurting Dogra sentiments.
“The party will file defamation suit against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who has hurt the sentiments of Jammuites by making a comment on Dogra turban and labeling baseless allegations of securing personal favours by the BJP MLA,” said BJP Legislature Party leader Ashok Khajuria while addressing a crowded press conference at the party headquarters, here today.
Flanked by two other BJP MLAs, Choudhary Sukhnandan and Sham Lal Choudhary, Mr Khajuria asked the Chief Minister to disclose names of the BJP leaders, who sought personal favours. “As public representatives, we did meet the Ministers and CM for redressal of genuine concerns of commoners, including transfers of those posted in remote areas and hostile terrains even after completion of fixed tenure but we never sought personal favours,” the BJP MLAs said, adding that during the last more than five years they did not meet the CM more than two or three times.
“Mr Abdullah, whose party, along with Congress, suffered a humiliating and comprehensive defeat and got only a paltry 10 per cent votes in the just held Lok Sabha elections, has unleashed a vilification campaign against BJP in his desperate bid to divert people’s attention away from his failures,” he added.
Mr Khajuria claimed that by abusing the BJP legislators, passing a remark on turban and describing Jammu people as ‘Bijli Chor’, Omar Abdullah has hurt the sentiments and self respect of the Dogras for which the ruling National Conference party would have to pay a very heavy price in the upcoming Assembly elections. “Like it happened in 2002 when he (Omar) had ridiculed Maharaja Hari Singh in an election rally at Samba, the NC will have to pay heavy price in the forthcoming Assembly elections for hurting the Dogra sentiments,” he explained.
The BJP MLAs also rubbished the claim of Omar Abdullah that they had not come up to the expectations of the people of Jammu. They reminded that it was the BJP that took up in right earnest the issues facing refugees from Kashmir, West Pakistan, PoJK and displaced persons of 1965 and 1971 and brought the August 9, 2013 Kishtwar carnage at the centre stage that led to the resignation of MoS (Home). “It was the BJP that played a historic role in Amarnath land agitation that culminated in the fall of then anti-Jammu Government,” they added.
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