SRINAGAR The National Conference is open to a pre-poll alliance if the Congress agrees to its seat-sharing arrangement for for upcoming Lok Sabha elections, party vice president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday.
“Yes, we received an offer from Congress but we have been very clear on taking forward any alliance plans only if our candidates are to contest all the Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir, ” he told reporters at Dak Banglow Anantnag on the sidelines of a party function on Sunday.
Omar said by not holding simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir, people were being denied a chance to elect their representatives.
On former IAS officer Shah Faisal launching his party, Omar said, “It remains to be seen if Shah Faesal and his party will have anything new to offer,” he said.
He said as Chief minister he never felt the need to ban Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Omar said it was pointless to expect any progress on resolution of Kashmir issue till elections were held both at the Centre and State levels.
Omar will be chief ministerial candidate in JK: Farooq
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Sunday announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate.
Kick-starting the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha polls here, the party chief said he will represent Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
“I will not be the chief minister. The chief minister will be Omar Abdullah as he is young. I am old and I cannot match the energy of young people, but he can. I will go to Parliament and I have full faith that I will be there,” Abdullah said addressing a party rally at Bahu Fort here.
Accusing the BJP of dividing the people and spreading hatred in the country, he said that the country had to be strengthened within and there was a need to fight polarisation, hatred and injustice.
The former chief minister asked people to support those candidates who could run the country based on the principle of equality.
He also countered allegations that the National Conference discriminated against Jammu and Ladakh.
In a veiled dig at the BJP, he said the state emblem of ‘Lotus’ was testimony that the state never discriminated against anyone unlike the party, which shared the lotus emblem, and was “dividing people on the basis of religion and spreading hatred”.
“Let us pray for unity and love, let us pray that those people come to power (at the Centre) who can understand the pain of the people and do not only raise slogans as slogans cannot run this country,” he said.
Without naming the BJP, Abdullah alleged that the party had purchased television channels and newspaper offices and unleashed a propaganda to mislead the people.
Slamming the BJP and the RSS for accusing him of being a Pakistani, he said recently his party worker was killed because he was holding the tricolour.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
