Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Apr 5: Firing a salvo on PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, former J&K Chief Minister and working president of National Confe-rence Omar Abdullah today said that a Chief Minister apprehensive of a coup within the party cannot perform and do justice with the institution of the CM’s office.
Addressing large public rally at Kalakote in Rajouri today, Omar said, those working under duress or fear cannot serve the people, nor can they protect their political interests. “A Chief Minister perpetually suspicious of her colleagues and apprehensive about a coup within the party cannot do justice with the institution of the Chief Minister’s Office”, he said.
“Mehbooba Mufti needs to come clean on her meeting with the Prime Minister and what transpired between the two over the so-called confidence building measures that PDP alleged to have sought from the Central Government but a request the BJP denies having received at all”, Omar maintained.
Junior Abdullah posed several direct questions to the new Chief Minister, saying she will have to explain to the people what PDP got from the Centre or the Prime Minister after three-month dilly dallying in forming the Government.
“She needs to respond to the statement of BJP general secretary Ram Madhav also who is on record having stated that Mehbooba Mufti didn’t ask for anything from the Prime Minister except his blessings”, the NC leader added.
Omar said Mehbooba Mufti was in fact asked either to form the Government or else leave the turf, as BJP was determined to form the Government with 20 PDP MLAs who were ready to choose another leader for the PDP Legislature Party. “This caused panic in the Mufti camp, which fearing dismemberment of PDP, chose to form the Government out of fear and based on a deep sense of insecurity”, he said,
He described the 10 -month rule of the PDP-BJP alliance as a complete and total failure on all fronts, saying this was even publicly admitted by Ms Mufti when she expressed dismay over the implementation of the ‘Agenda of the Alliance’. He appreciated the honest admission of Mufti and said had the first spell of the present coalition succeeded in achieving a single noteworthy milestone on governance or developmental fronts, he would have been the first one to congratulate them.
“The previous PDP-BJP Government failed to take up a single new project for implementation and even those projects that were initiated during National Conference-Congress led Government were put to back burner. He particularly made a reference to Kishtwar power project, which had been conceived with the larger aim of steering Jammu and Kashmir to self-reliance in power sector and said due to lack of vision of the PDP-BJP coalition the executing agency was forced to pack up and leave”.
On the contrary, Omar said the three months of Governor’s rule witnessed wheels of the Government moving. Not only the held up decisions were taken and implemented, the Governor took effective measures in disbursing flood relief, dismissing absentee doctors, regularising daily wagers and streamlining various services, among other things.
The former Chief Minister also assailed the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA), saying this Act is not in the interests of the poor people of the State. He said the decision has boomeranged as people have taken to streets.
He cautioned the people against divisive policies of the present dispensation and said his party will not allow these machinations to succeed.
Earlier, the former Chief Minister inaugurated Gian Public School at Kalakote and exhorted the management to concentrate on overall personality development of students.
Former Minister Ajay Sadhotra, Provincial president Devender Singh Rana, Dy Speaker Legislative Assembly Nazir Gurezi and State secretary Rachpal Singh also spoke on the occasion.
Follow our WhatsApp channel