Says BJP lacks courage to hold polls in J&K
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Dec 5: Former Chief Minister and vice-president of National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah, today said that instead of moving to the Supreme Court post the defeat in elections, Congress must analyze the reasons for it and prepare for the upcoming Parliamentary elections.
Speaking to the media on the occasion of the 118th birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Omar noted that elections are unpredictable, with wins and losses, and stressed the importance of being ready to accept defeat.
“You can’t only be satisfied with the elections that you win. You must also be ready to accept defeat; now if the Congress has unfortunately lost, instead of going to the SC, they need to analyze the reasons,” he said.
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Omar shared that one of his friends, a Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had informed him about their anticipated victory in Chattisgarh nearly two months ago.
“At that time, I laughed about it because there was no question of Congress losing Chhattisgarh, but if others could see it coming, why not the Congress; it would be better for them (Congress) to prepare for the Parliamentary elections and analyze the reasons for defeat,” he said.
He further said that when BJP loses in States, it is said that these were only State elections, and won’t have an effect on the Central elections, “but when they win, the same is termed as the victory of Modi, the victory of the Central Government.”
Omar added: “Five years ago, Congress won Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh as well as Chhattisgarh, and when the Parliamentary elections were held, the Congress had to face defeat at all three States; we can’t say that if the victory for BJP will manifest in any pattern in the upcoming Parliamentary elections, it needs to be seen.”
Regarding claims about the next Chief Minister for J&K being from BJP, Omar dismissed them, asserting that Chief Ministers are elected through elections, and BJP seems unwilling to hold them due to a fear of defeat.
“Let alone the Assembly elections, they are not even ready for the Panchayat elections. The term of Panchayat elections will end on January 5; the Municipal elections are also nowhere; our expectations for the conduct of Assembly elections in J&K will mean nothing, the reality is that the BJP people are not ready to face the people on the ground.”
Omar criticized BJP’s actions, particularly the reservation bill presented by the Home Minister in the Parliament at the start of its winter session. “They are doing everything; they have now bought a bill for the reservation on three seats which will be nominated by the LG. Giving the nomination power to the LG means that they know that they will not get the numbers; they are having something for face-saving in J&K,” he said.
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