National Conference (NC) leader, Omar Abdullah, on Wednesday, asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure a level playing field to all political parties contesting the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar was talking to media persons after addressing a public meeting at Nagri in Kathua district of Jammu.

His appeal to the ECI came a day before the arrival of the full ECI led by the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in J&K to meet leaders of political parties and review the preparations for the election.

The NC leader hoped that the ECI would announce the election notification soon after returning to Delhi from here.

He said earlier it was not clear whether the BJP government would let the elections be held in J&K, but now we have started preparing for the polls as the Supreme Court has fixed the timeframe of 30 September for these elections.

Replying to a question, Omar said that the government cannot run away from restoring the full statehood to J&K soon after the elections as it has made a commitment to do so in the Supreme Court. They cannot tell a lie in the apex court and Delhi or Puducherry type of state will not do, we want full statehood as per their commitment.

Talking about the developments in J&K after abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Omar said nothing new has happened on the ground in J&K and the speeches of ‘Naya Jammu & Kashmir’ are confined to the parliament.

Speaking at the rally, Omar asked the party activists to be ready for the campaign as the bugle of the election is going to blow and there is no doubt about it.

He attacked the BJP over its claims of a “new and prosperous” Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 and said that the situation on the ground was completely opposite. “I am compelled to ask what the people (of the Union Territory) have got in the past five years,” he said.

Holding assembly elections before the 30 September deadline set by the Supreme Court was no favour of the BJP-led Centre.

“They are speaking about ‘naya (new)’ and ‘khushhal (prosperous)’ Jammu and Kashmir (post Article 370 abrogation) but the situation on the ground is completely opposite and that is why they could not hold assembly elections till date because of the fear of defeat,” said Omar.

Referring to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy’s statement that the assembly elections would be held in September, he said, “If they are talking about elections today, they are not doing any favour to us.” “It was the Supreme Court, which set a deadline of September 30 for holding assembly elections while delivering its judgment on the Article 370 abrogation, otherwise they would have delayed it again on some pretext. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha also talked about holding the elections and we are eagerly waiting for the polls,” he said.

Omar said the BJP made a lot of promises while making the constitutional changes in J&K but nothing could be found on the ground five years down the line.

“They talked about industrialisation, generating employment and improving our lives by ending terrorism. Today, given the situation, we are compelled to ask what have we achieved in five years?” he said.

No major projects or industries have been set up, inflation is at its peak and unemployment is the highest in the country while terrorism has spread to the peaceful Jammu region, Omar said.

“At that time, it was said the abrogation of Article 370 would open the doors of development with new factories coming up to accommodate our youngsters. From Kathua to Samba to Bari Brahmana (in the Jammu region), one is only seeing those factories and industrial units that were already there,” the NC leader said.

He said the BJP had claimed that abrogation of Article 370 was necessary to save Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani guns and conspiracy. “Today, I am speaking with authority that Kathua is not the way we left it in 2014 as there are frequent encounters and attacks and our brave security forces are sacrificing their lives. The situation is no different in Pir Panjal, Chenab Valley, Jammu and Udhampur and other parts of the Jammu region,” he said.