National Conference (NC) chief Dr Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the Congress manifesto for the Lok Sabha election is not an “imprint of the Muslim League” but it aims to make the country stronger by maintaining its secular credentials.
Dr Abdullah was replying to questions of media-persons on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Muslim League imprint” remark on the manifesto of the Congress.
After holding a meeting with constituency activists of north Kashmir’s Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency at the NC headquarters in Srinagar, Dr Abdullah said: “I don’t think the manifesto is to break the country. I think the manifesto is to make the country strong and to maintain its secular character. That is what it is.”
“Anyone who thinks otherwise, they are already dividing the nation in their own way,” Dr Abdullah said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier attacked the Congress, charging that its poll manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League and utterances of its leaders showed hostility towards national integrity and Sanatan Dharma.
The National Conference and the Congress are members of the opposition’s INDIA bloc and are unitedly contesting the Lok Sabha elections on the five seats of J&K and the lone seat of Ladakh.
On the issue of the PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti targeting the National Conference, Dr Abdullah said the people of Jammu and Kashmir know what his party stands for.
“She can say what she likes to say. People know what we stand for and, beyond that, I don’t need to express anything,” he added.