Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 16: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday declared himself the Chief Ministerial candidate of his National Conference in the Assembly elections in the State.
“I am hopeful that the next Government in Jammu and Kashmir will be headed by me,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of the Independence Day function here yesterday.
Asked about the Opposition criticism that he was emptying the State coffers on populist measures as a last ditch effort ahead of Assembly elections, Omar said he was contesting the polls to win.
“Don’t think that I am emptying the treasury for the next person. As far as I am concerned, I am fighting these elections to win them and not to lose them,” he said.
“Government will be decided by the people and not by those writing columns in newspapers. We will see the acumen of the people when they take oath and become Finance Minister, if it comes to that. We have seen their work when they were in position of power,” Omar said.
Addressing the people on Independence Day, the Chief Minister appealed to the people of the Valley to make use of their power to vote as it helps in development while stating that “boycott politics” of separatists has not achieved anything.
“I am not going to tell you who you should vote for but please make use of your right to vote as it helps in development process. It is because of the votes in 2008 that we have been able to achieve so much in the past five and half years,” he said.
The Chief Minister announced two sops for the people of the State on the occasion of Independence Day – reduction in electricity duty from 22 percent to 10 percent and five percent reservation for Pahari speaking people.
“There were many complaints about billing. The electricity rates are fixed by SERC. We have the authority of reducing the duty which is 22 per cent. Today I want to give a gift to the people of the State and reduce the duty by 12 percent to 10 percent,” Omar said.
He said there has been a long pending demand by Pahari-speaking people and OBC for including them in reservation quota.
“We had demanded the Centre give Schedule Tribe status to Pahari people. Many Governments came and went but no action. We have a seven per cent reservation available and we have used it,” Omar said.
He said five per cent reservation will be given to Pahari speaking people and enhanced to four per cent from two percent the reservation for OBCs.
Omar said the State Government will keep on raising this issue with the Centre.
“We were hoping that the UPA Government will announce the reservation for Pahari-speaking people but it did not happen,” he said.
Omar said the State Government was also preparing an amnesty scheme which will be announced in the next couple of days.
Omar asked the people of the State to reject all separatist calls to boycott election and participate in the electoral process in large numbers.
“For the past 25 years they (separatists) have been calling to boycott polls. What has changed through these calls? Jammu and Ladakh vote but Kashmir does not,” he pointed out.
He further said that in November and December Assembly elections, the trend should change and people should come out to vote for development and prosperity. “You have every right to vote and don’t let it go waste,” he said.
Omar rejected the allegations of separatists that thousands of Kashmiris are languishing in various jails of the State. “Not more than 100 persons are in jails and you can visit prisons of the State along with camera persons to ascertain the facts,” he said. He claimed his Government was being maligned for political reasons.
Going back to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Omar said he was being criticised by his opponents for failing to start the process to withdraw AFSPA from the State. He said he has tried his best to convince AFSPA protagonists that the law was no longer needed in Jammu and Kashmir, which has seen 80 per cent reduction in the militancy. “I hope one day they will realise what I am saying and withdraw their opposition,” Omar said.
He, however, said he tried to remove the law from the State. “People try to reach Everest. They at times fail but it doesn’t mean we should give up trying,” Omar said. The Army has opposed many times its withdrawal from the State despite Abdullah taking it up with former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in the UPA II and the former Defence Minister A. K Antony.
“I will continue to work for revocation of AFSPA,” Omar declared.
The Chief Minister also rejected criticism of his Government that it failed to provide good governance in the State and came up with a long list of development works executed by him since January 2009, when he took over as Chief Minister of the State.
He said that during his election campaign in 2008 he did not seek votes for resolution of the Kashmir dispute. “I asked vote on slogans of sadak (road), bijli (power), paani (water) and health for all. And my focus remains on these issues,” he said.
He further said that because he did not talk about achievements of his Government, this did not mean that the Government has done nothing for the people and the State. Without mentioning the six-month-long protests in 2010, Omar said that despite going through some hard years, his Government has completed various development projects and did not waste the money provided by the Central Government.
Omar also hit out at separatists for opposing Kousarnag Yatra on the ground of environment protection, saying the local people were doing more harm to the ecology of the region.
“I don’t understand how 150 people visiting a lake can in any way do more damage to the environment than we ourselves do. Please visit Gulmarg, Pahalgam or Sonmarg where people have gone during this long weekend and see the mess they leave there,” Omar said.
Citing the example of Dal lake in the city, he said, “See the mess we create in Dal Lake.”
“I think we create far more damage to the environment than 150 persons visiting a lake,” he added. Omar also criticised the local administration over the handling of the Kousarnag Yatra issue.
“While I understand the need of these people to continuously coin political slogans, the mistake was on part of the administration… the way they handled the issue.
Otherwise there is nothing to be feared from this issue,” he said.
“They rake up issues with emotional value and they convert it into political slogan,” he said.
Omar made a special reference to the improvement security situation in the State during the last more than five and a half years, saying that there has been 80 per cent reduction in militancy-related incidents.
He said all schools and hospitals have been vacated from occupation of security forces.
Omar said 1000 private buildings, 300 Government buildings, 40 hotels and 30 industrial units have also been cleared from the occupation of security forces.
On the rehabilitation policy for those youth who had gone to Pakistan or PoK for arms training but renounced violence, he said 350 youth have returned under this policy so far.
“Although there are designated routes for return, once they reached home we have helped them in rehabilitation,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the passport policy has been made people-friendly and no objection certificates have been issued to three lakh applications.
Omar said 1850 youth have been benefited under the Amnesty Policy for those involved in law and order cases.
He said warrants under Public Safety Act have been brought down by 40 per cent in the last about six years from 2500 in 2008 to 1420 by now.
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