No alliance for J&K Assembly polls: NC chief Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar, Aug 7 (PTI) National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said his party will not enter into a pre-poll alliance with any other party for the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir.

“We will not enter into any alliance, totally not,” Abdullah told reporters here.

The NC chief’s comments came on the eve of the Election Commission’s (EC) visit to Jammu and Kashmir to review the preparations for the polls.

Led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the EC officials will meet the representatives of political parties to get their feedback on conducting the polls.

Abdullah said the poll panel will talk to the parties and then consult the Centre, before finalising the election dates.

“Whether the dates are announced or not, the EC is coming here. They will talk to everyone, then they will consult the Government of India and finalise the dates. They cannot finalise the dates themselves. Today, everything is done by the Government of India, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji and the home minister (Amit Shah),” he added.

Asked about the new Hajj policy, the NC president said the government should not interfere in religious issues.

“This government can do anything. But it will see its funeral one day and then we will see what the new government will do. This is not a big issue.

“Why will they stop someone from performing Hajj? People are not going on the government’s money, but on their own. The government has stopped all the (Hajj) subsidies. How will they stop anyone? If anyone performs the Amarnath Yatra or Badrinath Yatra, can we tell him not to come again? What is this? This is a religious issue and the government should not put pressure on religious issues,” he said.

To a question about the situation in Bangladesh, the former Union minister said India has been left alone as none of its neighbours is its friend anymore.

“Bangladesh is a different issue, our country has a different issue. In Bangladesh, (Sheikh) Hasina was pro-India, but the people there were not pro-India. She ran the affairs till she could. Today, India should be ready to deal with dangers.

“Today, none of our neighbours is our friend. We are alone — be it Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. The regret is that this big brother has miffed the younger brothers,” Abdullah said.

The need of the hour is the revival of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and India should fulfil its duty as the big brother, he added.

India should sit with everyone and discuss their problems, which was the aim of the SAARC. “Only then can all our neighbours become our friends,” Abdullah said.