Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, May 18: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today described the rout of his party in the Parliamentary elections, in which all the three NC candidates were defeated by the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as enormous set back.
Chief Minister said that he has already started introspection following the surprising defeat but wanted to have the feedback from the ground. “I’ve started the process of introspection and am listening to voices within the party but I need to hear from people other than colleagues (too). I want to learn, I need to learn. I’d like to try and make amends. I’ll give it my best shot and I’d rather fail trying than not try at all,” he wrote on the twitter.
Omar said that he received hundreds of mails since he tweeted his email addresses and sought suggestions from general public. “I’m deeply touched & humbled. 100’s of emails with amazing feedback & suggestions. I’m reading each one myself & responding to them. Bear with me as it will take me a while to get through them all but I will acknowledge them all ASAP. You made the effort & I thank you”, he wrote.
The Chief Minister pressed the panic button at the time when Assembly elections are hardly four months away.
Earlier, Omar sought reasons behind the set back to the party in the Parliamentary elections ahead of Assembly elections in the State that are due by the end of this year. He tweeted: “gupkar@gmail.com is my email. I’d like to hear from you as to the reasons for the enormous setback NC has faced in these elections.”
In the meantime, the Core group meeting of ruling National Conference (NC) today discussed the reasons behind the party’s rout in the Parliamentary elections at the hands of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The meeting that was held this morning at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah residence was attended by Omar, senior NC leaders Ali Mohammad Sagar, Nasir Aslam Wani, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Chowdhery Mohammad Ramzan, Abdul Rahim Rather, Devender Singh Rana and Ajay Sadhotra.
Sources said that the meeting discussed the rout in the recently held Parliamentary elections in which the NC faced worst defeat at the hands of PDP by losing all the three seats on which it contested from Kashmir valley.
Sources said that the meeting will continue and party patron and former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, will join the meeting tomorrow. Abdullah who is in New Delhi will arrive in Srinagar tomorrow.
“NC has also called its working committee on May 20 which would be attended by State, Provincial, District and block level party office bearers besides legislators and the candidates who lost the elections”, sources said.
Sources said that today’s meeting discussed issues like pre-poll alliance with its coalition partner Congress, cross voting, ignoring local issues during the campaign for its candidates, seeking votes for Rahul Gandhi, Afzal Guru hanging, 2010 killings, local developmental issues and disconnect with the youth.
“Majority of the core group members targeted Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather, for being a road block for resolving the issues of the government employees and failure to tackle the unemployment problem. Majority of the members told the meeting that it is the youth who rejected the NC candidates in Parliamentary polls. They suggested tackling of the unemployment problem at war footing before the model code of conduct comes into play by the end of this year ahead of Assembly elections”, sources said.
The NC won all the seats in 2009 Parliamentary elections from Kashmir valley but its all three candidates including Dr Farooq Abdullah lost to PDP candidates in Parliamentary elections 2014. Out of 46 Assembly segments, the NC took lead, that too slender, in only 5 segments. The NC trailed in all the Assembly segments represented by ministers, except junior Minister Nazir Ahmad Gurezi’s Gurez assembly segment.
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