Srinagar- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who head two major political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have reacted strongly to the interim bail granted to Baramulla MP, Er Rashid as according to them his release is aimed at engineering a split in their votes to help BJP.
Political Maneuver To Gain Votes: Omar
Srinagar: Reacting to the interim bail granted to Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid, NC leader Omar Abdullah Tuesday claimed that the bail was a political maneuver aimed at gaining an advantage in the upcoming Assembly elections rather than serving the voters who elected him to Parliament.
Abdullah’s remarks came after Engineer Rashid was granted interim bail in a terror funding case by a Delhi court.
Omar Abdullah said that he felt sorry for the people of the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency as they would ‘probably’ be left without a ‘political representation’ in the future, given the bail granted to AIP chief Er Rashid was intended to ‘garner votes’ for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections.
Er Rashid would be back in Tihar Jail as soon as Assembly elections in J&K are over, according to the NC leader, who will run concurrently from the Budgam and Ganderbal segments of the legislative assembly.
The former chief minister said that Er Rashid’s bail was intended to garner votes for BJP rather than allowing him to represent the people of Baramulla in the Lok Sabha or to attend Parliament as a member.
“I was aware that something similar would occur eventually, and I genuinely feel sorry for the people of the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat as their representative has not been granted the bail to represent them in Parliament as an elected member, but rather to secure votes for the BJP in the assembly elections,” Omar told reporters, adding, Er will return to Tihar Jail as soon as the elections conclude.
Omar pleaded with voters not to let their votes be divided in this election the way BJP wants them to sway the outcome of the election in its favor.
“What effect this decision has on voters and how they perceive this development will be clear in the future. While I approached the matter with extreme caution, Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba made it clear that her explanation aligned with what many people were thinking. She claimed that Er Rashid is acting on behalf of the BJP and has also questioned the source of the funding for AIP candidates. Now let’s see if AP could answer these queries,” he added.
The union Home Minister, according to the NC leader, recently claimed that BJP would form the next previous government in J&K and that they want to do this in alliance with the parties like the AIP and PC, saying if people want to have a BJP government in J&K then let people support these parties.
When asked on how he sees the insults made by Congress leader Vikar Rasool against him and his family during a rally in Banihal, he said, “He is a fool and doesn’t know what he says. He doesn’t have control over his tongue. However, I’m happy that Congress has taken note of his insulting remarks and denounced it accordingly.”
Abdullah was also asked about jailed cleric Sarjan Barkati contesting against him from the Ganderbal seat, to which he replied, “There is something that jailed persons are going after me alone.”
“This is not something ordinary. I can understand it as a coincidence that Rashid contests against me once but then fielding a person on two seats — had I announced my candidature from Budgam two days before I did, Barkati would have contested from Budgam as well — they are making attempts but I am hopeful that their attempts will fail,” he said.
Barkati has filed his nomination from the Beerwah constituency while the National Conference leader is contesting from the Ganderbal and the Budgam seats.
People In Jails Used To Split Votes: Mehbooba
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday asserted that only her party advocates the resolution of the Kashmir issue and speaks about the youths “languishing in jails”.
She targeted jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), saying a person in jail is contesting elections, while a poor person’s family is not allowed to meet their kin in jails.
She raised serious concerns about the alleged selective treatment of those in jails during the current political climate in Kashmir. Mehbooba claimed that some prisoners are being used to influence the vote while others are denied basic rights such as meeting their families.
Speaking to reporters after addressing party workers in Chandgam, Pulwama, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president said, “While many families are not allowed to visit their loved ones in jail, some people are allowed to run election campaigns from behind bars and are even given security protection.”
Mufti alleged that one of her party members was attacked by workers loyal to a jailed person, yet the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a notice to the PDP candidate instead of taking action against the attacker. “This clearly indicates a biased approach,” she said.
Criticising the political environment in Jammu & Kashmir, Mehbooba said the PDP has always been focused on the region’s development. “Our party has focused on infrastructure projects such as roads, universities, colleges and AIIMS, as well as job creation initiatives,” she said.
The former CM added, “The success of PDP has made other parties nervous, pushing them to seek public apologies and acknowledge their shortcomings. People will vote for PDP as they know the party had taken big developmental projects in a short span of time and provided employment opportunities to thousands of people.
On some former members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) contesting the assembly polls, the PDP president said the “real JeI is suffering” due to the government’s actions.
“Their schools were shut down, their orchards were occupied, they were banned, their party is being torn apart just like the PDP was torn apart.
“One person stands up saying he is the candidate of JeI, another says he is the one, but the real JeI is suffering, is in jails. The NIA, the ED are after them, all the agencies are after them,” she said.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K said the government should revoke the ban on JeI if it wants the outfit to embrace democracy.
“I want to tell the government in Delhi that if they want JeI to become a part of democracy, that the Kashmir issue be discussed within the ambit of democracy, then they should lift the ban on them, remove the occupation from their lands, and open their schools.
“All this will not work here, threatening with the NIA, threatening with the ED will not work,” she added.
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