Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar Apr 24: The National Conference vice president and former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, today said that the low voter turnout in Anantnag and Bijbehara is a lesson for PDP and its president Mehbooba Mufti.
Addressing two separate public meetings at Chawalgam and Homeshalibug, Omar said that the threats of BJP-RSS to abrogate Art 370, Art 35A will be defeated as the people of the State will not allow them to succeed in their nefarious designs.
“Today’s elections is not about choosing MLAs, today our State is fraught with a challenging situation. The need of the hour is to send a representative to Parliament who can fight for the interests of State, the situation that the State is facing today demands of having a credible voice at Delhi who can work tirelessely both within and outside Parliament for the protection of Art 370, Art 35-A”, said the NC vice president.
Flaying Mehbooba Mufti for betraying the trust of people, Omar said: “The amount of disgruntlement and disillusionment of the people against Mehbooba can be gauged from the fact that a place from where she got a lead of 12,000 votes in 2016 elections only saw total 956 people cast their ballot. Even her own brother and a sitting MLC didn’t cast his vote in her favor. If herown brother didn’t repose his faith in her, how can others,” he said.
The NC vice president said: “They (PDP) were not able to keep any of their promises. People didn’t see any jobs. The promise of lessening the foot print of security forces also turned out to be a sham. On the contrary she shamelessly presided over plethora of miseries that people of Kashmir especially the people of south Kashmir had to go through,” he said.
Omar said that the promises made by Mufti’s and PDP on the protection of our special status were big lies. “They were the one who implemented SARFAESI, NFSA, and GST in the State. They were the one who brought NIA to State. They failed to deliver on every promise they made in the run up for elections in 2014. We didn’t see them repeal AFSPA; on the contrary they slashed PSA on thousands of our youngsters, most of which are still languishing in jails. She failed miserably on every matrix; she failed to protect state’s status, she failed to provide jobs and above all she pushed the state into chaos and conflict. It was south Kashmir that bore the brunt of her imprudent policies. They are the ones who provided platform to BJP-RSS in the state”, he said.
Omar said that he is not given to double speaking, and when in power he had publically told the then PM Manmohan Singh that the issue of J&K is political in nature and can only be solved politically. “Once new Government takes the reins of power in centre we will impress upon them that the issue of J&K can only be solved through talks. We will work for securing our children a secure life. We will work for the restoration of autonomy,” he said.
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