Will Engineer Rashid back BJP if need arises after J&K polls: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Sep 13 (PTI) National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday asked Baramulla’s Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid to clarify whether his party would support the BJP if the saffron party needs it after the Jammu and Kashmir elections.

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) supremo, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, was behind bars in Delhi’s Tihar Jail and was released on interim bail on Wednesday to campaign for the assembly elections.

“Yesterday, at a seminar, when Rashid was asked whether he would support the BJP after the election, he remained silent. Why does he not say categorically that he will not support the BJP in any manner after the elections,” Abdullah told reporters in Devsar area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district after an election rally.

“Engineer Rashid probably stated yesterday that if I am ready to go back to Delhi with him, he will leave the field in our favour. Today, I say that the day he has to go back to Tihar Jail, I will go with him to drop him there. He should leave the field and sit at home,” the NC vice president added.

He said his party has talked about every issue related to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their manifesto.

“We (NC) have talked about Article 370. We have talked about the Kashmir issue. We have always talked about improving relations between India and Pakistan. And we have also talked about the day-to-day issues of the people here. What issue have we left?” Abdullah asked.

Abdullah, who was defeated by Rashid in the Lok Sabha polls, said Jammu and Kashmir has faced a lot of “losses because of the BJP”.

“Whether it is Jammu or Kashmir, people everywhere are disappointed. To get rid from this disappointment and suffering, the BJP and those who are ready to help the BJP after October 8, must be defeated in this election. This is the reason we have formed a pre-poll alliance to prove that we are the ones who are not ready to join hands with the BJP to form the government,” he said.

According to Abdullah, other parties or candidates were in the election fray to help the BJP “in some way or the other”.

“We appeal to the voters to make the alliance candidates successful so as to get chance to save J-K from the BJP, and correct the injustices and exploitation that have taken place in the last 10 years,” he added.

Asked about the Supreme Court granting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in a CBI case, Abdullah said the people of Baramulla were told that they can get someone out of jail through their votes.

“No one comes out through votes, they come out only through the court,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.