Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 22: National Conference vice president, Omar Abdullah, today said that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) helped the BJP rule for more than three years in Jammu and Kashmir which led to the abrogation of Article 370.
Addressing a public meeting in the Pahalgam area of Anantnag district, the National Conference vice president said: “The PDP helped the BJP lay its base here for 3.5 years. With what face do they seek votes from you today by saying they will safeguard it (Article 370)? They had a hand in abrogating it. They played their role in ending it, how will they save it?”
Abdullah said the PDP has been maintaining it is contesting the election on behalf of INDIA bloc, but its leaders have never spoken against the BJP.
“This election has been going on for two months now, for God’s sake, show me one occasion where the PDP has spoken against the BJP. I went to campaign in the Udhampur seat, show me one place where Mehbooba spoke against the BJP there,” he said.
Referring to his party’s support to the PDP after the 2014 Assembly polls, Abdullah said the situation in J&K would have been different if there was no PDP-BJP Government.
“Had they taken support from us and the Congress, the government would have run for six years and our flag and our Constitution would still have been there. There would not have been any danger to our lands, we would not have been disrespected like that and the BJP would not have defamed us,” he said.
“Now we do not know for how long we will have to fight this and to seek our rights,” he said.
The NC leader claimed that the day the BJP and the PDP came to power, the BJP started working on the abrogation of Article 370.
“Whenever the then Home minister Rajnath Singh addressed media along with the PDP, he would always say that we have to make a final settlement of Kashmir, but he never said what was that final settlement,” he said.
Abdullah said all the other candidates, contesting Parliamentary polls from Anantnag-Rajouri seat, belong to the parties who “support the communal powers” and NC candidate Mian Altaf is the only one who is fighting that.
The NC leader highlighted the absence of prominent Muslim leaders on the national stage when the community faces challenges, and said Ghulam Nabi Azad could have played the leadership role within the Congress, but his fledgling DPAP is limited to just the Chenab Valley now.
Abdullah emphasised the need for a strong national-level Muslim leader to give Muslims in the rest of the country “some reassurance”.
He said the BJP’s campaign lacks a central unifying theme, focuses on religious polarisation with inclusion of issues like Pakistan. “Adani and Ambani were not spared in this campaign either which I found particularly surprising. Honestly, none of the Hindu Muslims stuff has surprised me but accusing Adani and Ambani of collecting black money, and that too distributing in trucks. If their one truck had come to my home I’d have been using a plane to campaign,” he said.
But despite some unease in the BJP’s campaign, their overall tally may not see a significant change, he said.
“It would be easy to conclude that BJP is in trouble but I don’t want to be accused of wishful thinking. Part of me thinks, yes they are in trouble, part of me believes that when the results come out their number will be very similar to what it is now just a bit plus minus but not significantly. This whole thing that (they) will be reduced to a minority government or voted out completely, honestly, I am not sure. But there is no doubt that there seems to be a bit of unease in the BJP campaign,” he said.
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