“Mehbooba Mufti said in Delhi that Farooq Saheb and we are together, and we will not break the INDIA bloc. Why are you people trying to make us fight here? You should expose the A team, B team and C team,” Omar told reporters on sidelines of a function in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
A day after the National Conference (NC) announced its candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat which the PDP was eyeing as an alliance partner, the former chief minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah hinted that PDP won’t contest Lok Sabha polls and both the NC and the PDP are together part of the INDIA bloc.
On Monday, the NC announced veteran Gujjar leader and former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) minister Mian Altaf Ahmed as its candidate for the newly redrawn Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.
The NC’s decision puts question mark on unified fight by the opposition INDIA bloc in the union territory. “Mehbooba Mufti said in Delhi that Farooq Saheb and we are together, and we will not break the INDIA bloc. Why are you people trying to make us fight here? You should expose the A team, B team and C team,” Omar told reporters on sidelines of a function in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Omar said that the PDP never said that they are contesting Lok Sabha polls. “Has the PDP anywhere said they are contesting elections.”
When Omar was asked that NC changed the decision after ED summons. “Nothing has changed after ED notices. There was no decision about seat sharing. Our formula for the seat sharing was on the basis of the DDC polls which we contested jointly. In DDC polls we made the decision that the party which had won the last assembly polls will contest from that place only. DDC candidates were based on the results of 2014 assembly polls and the places the PDP had won we gave them those DDC seats, the places where NC and Peoples Conference had won were awarded those seats.”
On Sunday NC chief Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti put up a unified show during the INDIA bloc’s mega “Loktantra Bachao” (save democracy) rally in Delhi.
Various INDIA bloc leaders in the region have been insisting on the National Conference leadership to leave the Anantnag seat for Mehbooba Mufti, who had won the erstwhile Lok Sabha seat twice in 2004 and 2014. A section of PDP leaders has been insisting Mehbooba that the party should contest elections from all three seats of Kashmir especially after NC unilaterally announced candidates for Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.
The final decision about contesting Lok Sabha polls will be taken by the PAC of the PDP which is holding its meeting in coming few days after Mehbooba will return from Delhi. “By announcing its candidate from Anantnag the NC has shown its arrogance. A large section within the PDP is of the opinion that the party should contest elections from all three seats of Kashmir,” said a senior PDP leader.
PDP senior leader and former legislator
Firdous Tak questioned NC vice-president for mouthpiece of INDIA bloc. “The @JKNC_unilaterally takes on role of spokesperson for INDIA, much like it did with PAGD before. Now, it’s extending its reach to @jkpdp as well. @OmarAbdullah sahib has numerous other responsibilities, instead of serving as mouthpiece for organizations he isn’t affiliated with,” Tak wrote on X.
