Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah dares BJP: ‘I’ll quit politics if…’
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Omar Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice president, challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to field its candidates in North, Central and South Kashmir. He said he will quit politics if the BJP candidates do not lose their security deposits in case.
According to reports, Omar said that if the BJP fielded its own candidates in the Kashmir Valley, the party would lose their deposits. “If they do not lose their deposit, I will quit politics,”
“If you have done so much, then please field BJP candidates on these three seats (in Kashmir). If they do not lose their security deposits, then I will quit politics,” Abdullah was quoted by PTI as saying.
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He told reporters that if the BJP was confident of its claims on “development and normalcy”, then it should field its candidates in the three seats in the Kashmir Valley.
He said this while referring to the meeting between BJP general secretary and in-charge J-K Tarun Chugh and Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari. “It is against New Delhi’s attempts to prop up, which until recently were proxies, but are now open about their support to the BJP,” he added.
His statement came after NC president Farooq Abdullah declared Omar Abdullah as the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Baramulla Parliamentary constituency and senior leader Ruhullah Mehdi as candidate from Srinagar parliamentary constituency.
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Abdullah said he is also contesting from North Kashmir as the party wanted to defeat the BJP-led central government, which is eyeing the Baramulla constituency as Sajad Lone is contesting from the seat.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Omar Abdullah said, “This time, our fight is not against any individual. In North, Central and South Kashmir, our fight is not against any candidate, but it against the forces [BJP] that are openly backing candidates there.”
“My fight is not against an individual, it is against the skullduggery, trickery, the political machinations of the BJP, Abdullah told PTI.
“The way in which they [BJP] are trying to create alternatives to parties like the National Conference, the way in which they are conspiring to try and bring their associate parties together on one stage and therefore I see this as an opportunity to take the fight directly to the BJP and to the Centre,” he added,
Omar was also asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Jammu that J&K’s statehood would be restored and that assembly elections will be held soon. Reacting to this, he said the Centre was not doing us a favour.
He added that it would have been a favour if the government would have granted statehood or held elections before the Supreme Court ruling. “This has become a compulsion on them to conclude elections before September 30,” he was quoted by PTI as saying.
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Published: 12 Apr 2024, 05:36 PM IST
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