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Omar Abdullah said their fight against Article 370 will continue. (News18)
Omar Abdullah said this Lok Sabha election is unique for many reasons, particularly after the delimitation of the assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir
Omar Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, who has entered the poll fray from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, in an exclusive conversation with News18, dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to fight in Kashmir, claiming they would “lose their deposits”. He, however, added that the fight for Article 370, which gave special status to J&K, will continue both inside and outside Parliament.
His party, National Conference (NC), has also announced Shia leader and former minister Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi as its candidate from Srinagar after Abdullah’s father and sitting MP, Farooq Abdullah, decided to stay away from elections, citing health issues. Both seats are expected to witness a pitched battle.
Abdullah said this Lok Sabha election is unique for many reasons, particularly after the delimitation of the assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir. “For the first time, we have a constituency with segments on both sides of the mountains in south Kashmir — Rajouri and Poonch districts. Similarly, Srinagar has changed, which is a challenge for us,” he said.
A constituency like Budgam district’s Beerwah, which he represented in the previous assembly, and was part of Srinagar, is now part of the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. “This is the first major election after 2019. This is an opportunity for voters to convey to us if we are on the right track or not. It’s unique how New Delhi has tried to manoeuvre the candidates against the NC,” said Abdullah.
He also accused the BJP of bringing what he called “associate parties” on one stage to dent the NC on the three seats of Kashmir. “The PDP’s decision to fight the election came later, but the entire effort of the BJP was to bring its associate parties to one stage. That is why they gave north Kashmir to the People’s Conference and south and central seats to the Apni Party,” former CM said.
A closed-door meeting of BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chug, Sajad Lone and Altaf Bukhari was held on Saturday last week, which triggered speculations of the BJP attempting to get these parties on board for the polls and supporting their candidates. Although the Altaf-led Apni Party had attempted to ally with Sajad and Ghulam Nabi Azad on Kashmir seats, the plans didn’t mature owing to lack of time. The BJP is yet to announce its candidates for the three seats of Kashmir, even as the notification for the nominations for Anantnag-Rajouri has been issued.
“The fact that the BJP in 2019 contested all these seats and now isn’t contesting is also interesting. As we speak, the PM is in Jammu talking about development, normalcy, peace, family rule and how the NC didn’t do anything. Assuming it is true, then the BJP should be the strongest to win. The PM says everyone appreciates what he did in August 2019. If that’s the case, why is the BJP afraid of putting up candidates,” asked Abdullah, referring to the PM’s speech at a public rally in Udhampur. “Please come and put up candidates and see how many people agree with what the Prime Minister says.”
On being asked why the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a political alliance formed after the abrogation of Article 370 regarding bringing back the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, was silent, he said the NC has been vocal and will raise its voice.
“There has been no silence on the part of parties about 370. All our speeches have focused on August 5, 2019. Not only statehood, the way our dignity, self-respect and identity were taken away, our jobs and every aspect of our lives were threatened…we have linked that to writing down 370,” he told News18.
