Srinagar- Hours after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for J&K Legislative Assembly elections on Friday, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said he is facing pressure from his party to contest the polls.
He expressed ‘uncertainty’ to contest elections, and said, “Although I don’t want to fight the elections, there is pressure on me from my party, and in the next two days, I will take a decision on contesting the polls,” he said.
He said that due to his father, Farooq Abdullah’s old age, there is added pressure on him to contest. “The problem is that my father is aging, so if I don’t fight, he will be under pressure to do so.”
Omar said the discussions with the Congress on forming a political alliance have not progressed.
“The alliance with the India bloc is still in place, and I met some senior Congress leaders from Delhi who visited J&K recently. I had a round of discussions with them to determine whether or not we could fight elections as coalition partners, but since they were in the region without instructions from their high command, the dialogue could not be continued,” Omar said at a press conference at his Gupkar residence.
The NC leaders said the possibility of dialogue hasn’t yet faded because his father and the party president had a telephonic conversation with some top Congress leaders some two days ago.
“We are ready to have a dialogue with the Congress if the party has any concrete ideas that may lead us to a mutual understanding. My father Farooq Abdullah spoke over the phone with a few senior Congress leaders about two days ago. Now, since the elections are drawing closer; let’s see what happens,” he added.
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