Unfortunate that NC contesting in Anantnag-Rajouri against friend who turned greedy: Omar Abdullah

Pulwama (J-K), Apr 20 (PTI) National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Saturday said it was “unfortunate” that his party was contesting the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency against a friend who turned “greedy” for a Lok Sabha seat.

Abdullah was apparently referring to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti contesting the polls from the seat in south Kashmir. The NC has fielded its senior leader Mian Altaf from the seat.

“The fight on the seat in south Kashmir is not with the BJP. The NC’s contest there is unfortunately with one of our friends who was with us till some days ago. Unfortunately, they left us for the greed of a seat. Our contest at least in south Kashmir is not with the BJP or its ‘B’ or ‘C’ teams,” he told reporters here.

The NC and PDP, who are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc, were also a part of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was formed after of the abrogation of Article 370.

However, both two parties fielded candidates on three Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir Valley with the PDP accusing the NC of leaving them with “no option”. Omar Abdulah had hit back, saying the PDP was going back on the understanding reached between the constituents of the PAGD for the District Development Council elections in 2020.

On Saturday, the NC vice president said while the BJP was not directly contesting the parliamentary polls in the Valley, it was supporting parties like the Apni Party and People’s Conference.

“The BJP is in the field of elections but they do not have their party symbol. They are contesting on ‘cricket bat’ (Apni Party’s poll symbol) and ‘apple’ (People’s Conference’s symbol)… We are well aware who the BJP supports here. But they stand no chance of winning,” he added.

The former J-K chief minister said going by the response of the people, “I hope that the NC will win all the three seats (in the valley).”

In response to a question about the BJP’s claims that the would NDA win more than 400 seats, Abdullah said everything would be clear after the results. The Ladakh seat is slipping away from their hands, he claimed.

“After the polling yesterday, it seems they will not be able to save the Udhampur seat. Let us see what happens on the Jammu seat as well,” the NC leader said.

Asked about BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravindra Raina claiming that the party will win both the parliamentary seats in the Jammu region, Abdullah said, “Let me remind him that the elections have not taken place on the Jammu seat yet and we do not even know how many votes will be polled there.

“Let the voting take place first, then the BJP should claim its victory. As of now, we feel their Udhampur seat is in danger,” he said.

The Udhampur seat is seeing a triangular fight with the Congress fielding Choudhary Lal Singh and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party pitting three-time ex-MLA G M Saroori against the BJP’s Jitendra Singh who is vying for a hat-trick of victory in the constituency.

The NC vice president alleged the BJP claimed many things in Kashmir but did not contest the polls in the Valley.

“Why did they leave the field? Raina was preparing to contest the polls from the south Kashmir seat, but why did he not do so? What compulsion did they have that they had to push other parties be it ‘cricket bat’ or ‘apple’,” Abdullah said, adding, “These parties were working for the BJP”.

Addressing an election meeting in support of the party candidate from Srinagar seat Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, the National Conference vice-president said the elections were about sending credible and representative voices to Parliament.

“You have to make a smart choice by weighing all the options. There is no scope for repeating past mistakes. If you want your aspirations to be heard in the Lok Sabha, then there is no better candidate than Aga Sahib. He is a prolific orator and he doesn’t change his stance,” the NC vice president said.

Abdullah claimed that the identity, existence, and honour of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been put at risk and the people should send a true representative voice to the Lok Sabha.

“There is no denying the fact that our people are suffering from unemployment, underdevelopment and administrative inertia all at the same time. These issues are the focus of assembly elections. However the ensuing Lok Sabha polls will set the stage for it,” Omar Abdullah said.