National Conference (NC) Vice-President Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that his party’s fight in south Kashmir’s Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency is not with BJP but unfortunately with a party that was our friend till a few days ago but turned “greedy” for a Lok Sabha seat.
Omar was ostensibly referring to Mehbooba Mufti who has filed her nomination for the seat as PDP candidate against NC’s Gujjar spiritual leader Mian Altaf.
The NC and the PDP, who are partners of the INDIA bloc, were also part of the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) that was formed after the abrogation of Article 370. The alliance has broken as the NC and PDP were now fighting against each other on all three seats of Kashmir in the Lok Sabha polls.
Our contest at least in south Kashmir is not with the BJP or its ‘B’ or ‘C’ teams,” Omar said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of his campaign in Pulwama and other areas while campaigning for the party’s candidate for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi,
Omar 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 (PC). Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his poll rally in Jammu had said that the BJP was not in a hurry to bloom the lotus (BJP’s party symbol) in Kashmir and would come there only when it gets the love and affection of the people.
However, Omar said, “The BJP is in the field contesting elections, but the only difference is they do not have their party symbol, they are contesting on ‘cricket bat’ (Apni Party’s symbol) and ‘apple’ (PC’s symbol). We are well aware who the BJP supports here, but they stand no chance of winning,” he said.
“I hope that God willing, the NC will win all the three seats,” Omar said. In response to a question about the BJP’s claim that the NDA was crossing the 400 mark, saying everything would be clear after the results.
The Ladakh seat is slipping 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 will happen on the Jammu seat as well,” he said.
Asked about BJP’s J&K President Ravindra Raina claiming that the party would win both the seats in Jammu, Omar said, “Let me remind Raina 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, the BJP should claim its victory. As of now, we feel their Udhampur seat is in danger,” he added.
Omar said the BJP claimed many things in Kashmir, but fled contesting the polls in the valley. “Why did they leave the field? What was their helplessness? Raina was preparing to contest the polls from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, but why did he not contest? What compulsion did they have that they had to push other parties be it ‘cricket bat’ or ‘apple’, Omar said, adding, “These parties were working for the BJP.”