Excelsior Correspondent
BARAMULLA, Apr 16: Union Minister Farooq Abdullah today claimed that BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi wants to “eliminate” Muslims but expressed confidence that Congress will not allow him to succeed in his designs.
“I do not fear Modi but his intentions, which he has for India. He wants to eliminate Muslims if you want to hear the truth,” Abdullah, also president of ruling National Conference in J&K, told reporters here, about 55 kms from Srinagar.
He (Modi) wants to play “communal politics and is taking the country towards communalism”, Abdullah said.
He, however, said that Congress is steadfast to fight him.
Abdullah, who is seeking re-election from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, said the State Government was committed to revoking Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and asked Pakistan to stop pushing militants into the State.
“The Government is committed that AFSPA has to be removed from the areas where it is not needed. There is no difficulty about that,” he said, adding “I hope our friends in Pakistan would stop sending militants then probably AFSPA would go completely.”
Shariq, a senior National Conference leader and sitting MP, is contesting from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat which is going to polls in the last phase of the five-phased elections in the State on May 7.
The NC president apologized to Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and told him to forget the grievances which he has against them. “I was dismissed by Congress (as Chief Minister in 1984). But I forgot everything for the sake of the country. I tell Mir Sahab not to keep any grievance against them. If we have done any mistake, I apologize for that. But this time stand up with us, we will bang them (BJP and PDP) down and break their legs,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah’s apology was an attempt to garner Mir’s support for their NC candidate from his Tangmarg constituency wherefrom he was elected as an MLA in 2008.
Pertinently, Mir was attacked by the National Conference in the backdrop of reports that he was paid Rs 1.19 crore by the former Army Chief General VK Singh to topple the Omar Abdullah Government in the State and wanted him to resign.
Meanwhile, PCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz distanced the party from the Ladakh unit of the Congress over the demand of Union Territory status for the region and said it is not part of the party’s manifesto.
“It (demand for Union Territory Status) is a local issue and not of the whole State. We don’t know whether that is achievable or not. If it was achievable, then it would have been granted. It is not the manifesto of Congress,” Soz said in reply to a question.
Congress leaders Nawang Rigzin Jora, Rigzin Spalbar and Tsering Samphel have released a manifesto for the ongoing Parliamentary election in Leh and demanded the Union Territory status for the region.
Soz also criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI) for “his weakness” for not looking into the source of money that Narendra Modi is getting for his election campaign.
“Election Commission of India’s mistake is that he is not looking into where from Modi is getting the money. Even BJP is also surprised for the coverage he is getting in the media,” Soz said. He said the EC has to think and see how much money does Modi have.
“There is a charge against him as a few days back there was a media report that he has spent Rs 5,000 crore on media. Why isn’t Advani or Rahul Gandhi or even Sonia Gandhi given such coverage. That is why EC has to think about it. The EC is not above law,” Soz said.
The candidates, who have filed their papers for Baramulla seat, are Sharief-ud-Din Shariq of National Conference, Mohammad Rafiq Shah of National Panthers Party, Ghulam Mohammad Mir of Bharatiya Janata Party, Salam-ud-Din Bajad of People’s Conference and Khurshid Ahmad Khan of People’s Conference, who filed his nomination as covering candidate of the party.
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