SRINAGAR, May 23: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the four years of UPA Government at the Centre has witnessed a lot of positive work, but admitted that successive scandals were a setback to it.
“Because we focus on the negative, I often think, we ignore the positive. There is a lot of good that this Government has done,” Omar, whose National Conference is part of the UPA at the Centre, told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
Omar was responding to a question about his assessment of the four years of UPA-II rule in the country. National Conference was not part of UPA-I.
The Chief Minister said, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had clearly identified the areas where the Government at the Centre has achieved “considerable success”.
“No doubt there were setbacks. The biggest area of concern has been the succession of scandals that have been unearthed,” he said.
The Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson yesterday “publicly committed themselves to unearthing scams and ensuring that those who are guilty will be punished,” the Omar said.
UPA will go back to the people with the list of positive works it has done as the Lok Sabha elections, due next year, draw closer, he added.
“As we come closer to the elections, we will take that positive track record and go back to the people,” Omar said.
In response to a question about him entering into an understanding with moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Chief Minister said it was a question more for the separatist leader.
“I am currently heading a Government that is a constituent of the UPA. I am an ally of the Congress. Undoubtedly there is a historic sort of precedent to what you are taking about…The double Farooq accord between my father and the Mirwaiz’s father. Beyond that, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to say anything else,” he added. (AGENCIES)
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