‘NC will form next Govt in J&K’
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, July 21: Former Chief Minister and National Conference vice president, Omar Abdullah today said that the spike in terrorist activities in the region would be no justification to delay Assembly elections in the Jammu and Kashmir.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO
“Some people in J&K are saying that the situation has deteriorated and hence, there should be no elections. Are we so weak or the situation worsened so much that there are no chances of holding elections? We held elections in 1996 when the militancy was at its peak. You have to agree that there is a difference of heaven and hearth between the situation at that time and today,” Omar told media-persons at the sidelines of a public rally at Gurha Slathia in district Samba today.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
“Those who do not want to hold elections in J&K, should tell that we are bowing before the gun-totting forces and are accepting defeat, besides ignoring the sacrifices of our forces. You tell our enemies that we will lay down without fighting,” he asserted.
“If you want to bow before such forces, then don’t go for the elections. We have no objection because this election is taking place on the orders of the Supreme Court which has set a deadline of September 30,” Omar added.
“You say in the Supreme Court the situation is not conducive for holding Assembly polls and we are bowing before the forces who over the past three years martyred our 55 soldiers. If you want to ignore and waste their sacrifices, we will bear the decision silently as there is nothing else we can do,” the NC leader stated.
Omar said there are such forces across the neighbouring country which do not want friendly ties between the two (India-Pak) countries.
“We know they won’t desist from their activities but somehow we were also found off-guard,” he said, criticising Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for delaying the joint high-level meeting held in Jammu on Saturday to chalk out a strategy to tackle growing terror incidents.
Omar said the meeting should have been called a long time after the first terror incident. “Why he waited for so long? It was only after we started raising the concern, the meeting was convened,” he added.
Referring to the spectacular performance of his party during recent Lok Sabha elections, Omar said the National Conference will form the next Government in the Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, addressing the rally, former Chief Minister said BJP has not learnt any lessons from the Lok Sabha election results, adding that it has not fulfilled its promises on development, creating jobs and curbing terrorism despite being in power over the last 10 years.
“The BJP which was talking of 400 and 370 seats has stopped at 240 in the Lok Sabha polls. They were in power for 10 years and the result showed that the people are not satisfied with them and were looking for change,” he added.
“The Lok Sabha elections showed us both our power and weakness. Given the result trends, if any party is going to form the Government in J&K, it will be NC… God willing, when the Assembly polls are over by September or October, you will see our party in power,” he said.
However, the result in Baramulla was different because a strange wind was blowing there, he added.
He said BJP’s performance even in Jammu and Udhampur was well beyond its expectations as, compared to previous years, the margin of votes dropped from over 3.5 lakh votes to over 1.5 lakh votes.
“What happened to these two lakh voters. They are in power (for the third term) because of the support of some parties from Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. People are disappointed and angry with them,” the NC leader said.
“The youth in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand give the highest number of new soldiers but the Agniveer scheme has not gone down well with them. As a result, BJP lost the highest vote share from these places,” Omar asserted.
Gurha Slathia, he said, is a sacred land where each family has one or more members serving the Armed forces or Paramilitary forces to safeguard the country and keep the tricolour flying high.
“With great regret, I am saying that the area has been ignored as a result of which the youth are left disappointed which is evident from their faces. We have respected your mandate in the past and I promise to carry forward the incomplete developmental works once our Government comes to power,” the former CM said.
While continuing his tirade against the BJP, Omar said the people are feeling deceived by the party which made tall promises on August 5, 2019 — the day Article 370 was abrogated and the erstwhile State of J&K was bifurcated into two Union Territories.
“You were saying the flag with plough is a hindrance in employment generation. After five years, we are forced to ask where those job opportunities have gone as J&K is heading the list of regions in the country with the highest unemployment rate,” Omar said.
Referring to the under-construction Katra-Delhi Expressway, he said not a single contractor or engineer from J&K got work under the project.
“The officers are coming from outside and they are least bothered about the locals,” he said, promising to regularise all the daily wagers after the formation of his party’s Government.
The NC leader asked people to vote wisely in the coming Assembly elections so that they get answers to all of their queries in a peaceful manner.
Omar added that every attempt was made to sabotage this rally but “the ordinary workers of the party showed them that ‘everyone is not selfish.’
While he did not name his former party leaders, the remark was seen to be an indirect jab at former Minister SS Slathia and ex-MLA Devender Rana who switched from the NC to BJP in October 2021.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
