Sardar R P Singh
In late 2002, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah was expecting to become CM as his father Farooq Abdullah had indicated then. Contrary to Omar’s expectations, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed pipped him to the coveted post. It was only six years later after the 2008 assembly elections that Omar could become CM of Jammu & Kashmir with the support from the Congress.
Late in 2014, he was sent packing by the electorate and 10 years later, Omar is desperate to be CM again. A lot has, however, changed now, and the biggest blow to his party was dealt by Narendra Modi government five years ago in August 2019 when it abrogated Article 35-A and Article 370. He has proved himself to be a bundle of contradictions and not fit for holding the top executive post in J&K.
In the following few paragraphs, we will discuss how he has contradicted himself time and again. A couple of months ago, Omar had declared that he will not contest assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir till statehood was restored. Omar had also said that the powers of the CM in a Union Territory (UT) were far lesser than that enjoyed by the CM of a state. Omar said he could not demean himself by waiting outside the LG office to get files for appointment of peons cleared.
One thought the NC would go into elections without Omar but as soon as the elections for the assembly were announced, he did a volte face and became party candidate from Ganderbal. This is the same constituency from which he was defeated in 2002 by PDP candidate Qazi Mohammad Afzal. Returning to Ganderbal in 2024, he is scared of losing from here and he has filed nomination from Budgam also. Someone who was not ready to contest assembly elections in UT barely a few months ago is now contesting from two assembly segments!
At some of his public rallies, Omar had declared that the NC was opposed to terrorism as it had lost hundreds of its workers to this menace. However, contrary to this, he declared support for Afzal Guru, someone who was hanged in October 2013 for terrorist attack on Parliament in December 2001. Omar himself, his father Farooq Abdullah and his grandmother Akbar Jehan had represented Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency at different times. Does his support to Afzal Guru not amount to supporting terrorism and terrorists who attacked the temple of democracy that Parliament is?
For several decades, Jamaat e Islami has remained a party opposed to dynastic NC of the Abdullahs. During the Lok Sabha elections some months ago, and even afterwards, Omar took a high moral ground and supported Jamaat when it said that it wanted to contest elections. Incidentally, Jamaat is today a banned organisation and Omar wanted to score some browny points by talking about support to it. However, now that Jamaat has decided to contest elections fielding independent candidates, Omar is calling them names. He no longer welcomes Jamaat participation in elections as it will hit the NC candidates hard.
Talking about Article 370, Omar has often admitted that stone pelting and hartals have become a thing of the past after its abrogation. However, in his campaign meetings recently, Omar has pledged to bring back Article 370 as also Article 35-A. What for? So that the stone pelters rule the streets of Kashmir again and hartals prevail? In the summer unrest of 2010, when he was CM, stone-pelting and hartals had led to 110 deaths. With Article 370 around, stone pelting as also deaths of people on the streets of Kashmir was an everyday phenomenon at that time.
At one time, Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a part of the Gupkar Alliance formed to ostensibly bring back Article 370. However, prior to the Lok Sabha elections some months ago, he parted company with Mehbooba. Presently, during assembly elections, Omar is busy making statements against the PDP saying vote to Mehbooba’s party amounted to wastage since he was going to be the CM after elections any way!
Omar is now mortally afraid of losing elections again having lost in the assembly elections many times, and the recent defeat in Baramullah Lok Sabha constituency. NC, the party his grandfather had founded, was once considered invincible in most parts of Kashmir. However, he was soundly defeated by Independent candidate Engineer Rashid who did not campaign against Omar even for a day as he was in Tihar jail. In sharp contrast, Omar campaigned heavily in Baramullah with his two lawyer sons in attendance for several days. Sajjad Lone, a candidate in Baramullah, had then called Omar a tourist visiting north Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah is utterly devastated and confused by the release of Engineer Rashid and Jamaat e Islami proxy candidates. He had earlier often welcomed the Jamaat participation in elections in his public speeches. Doing a political somersault, he is often seen now criticising Jamaat whose side he was taking till the other day.
He had earlier calculated that a NC-Congress alliance could be a winner. But he knows now that the alliance is getting strongly challenged in most assembly segments and is on the losing side. Due to all this, Omar seems to have gone bonkers and as someone described him in private conversation as “Batoye da” (Mr. Confused) in colloquial Dogri.
(The author is National Spokesperson BJP)
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