Jammu. National Conference (NC) vice president and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah on Monday challenged Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) President Ghulam Nabi Azad. He said that instead of ‘hiding behind the camera’ and giving statements targeting his party, she should contest the Lok Sabha elections against him.
Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah is contesting from Baramulla parliamentary constituency of North Kashmir. He is currently on a four-day visit to the Chenab Valley region to drum up support for Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (India) coalition candidate Chaudhary Lal Singh.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Azad was named as the DPAP candidate from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, but he later said he could not give any certainty about his candidature as the party had not consulted him about it. Had taken. Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of his road show in Thathri area of Doda district, ‘I challenge him (Azad) to contest (elections) against me to test his strength. It is very easy to hide behind the camera and give statements (against NC). If he is a man then he should fight against me. I will see how many votes he gets.
Despite bad weather, Abdullah continued his road show in support of Lal Singh. Lal Singh is contesting the elections on Congress ticket against Union Minister Jitendra Singh. When asked about Azad targeting NC in his election rallies, Abdullah claimed that he was doing so at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said, ‘We did not speak against Azad (when he left Congress and formed his own party in 2022), until he started targeting NC President Farooq Abdullah. We considered him our friend but he turned out to be a friend of BJP. It is Azad’s compulsion to target NC because he cannot target BJP.
Earlier, Abdullah, while standing on top of his vehicle amid the rain, addressed the gathering and said that the purpose of his visit to Chenab Valley was to make people aware of the real situation and about the conspiracies to divide their votes and weaken their voice. I have to warn them.
“The Bucket Party (DPAP) is not here to benefit you and solve your issues,” he said. It has entered the (electoral) contest to benefit the BJP, which abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, divided the erstwhile state into Union Territories (on August 5, 2019) and made empty promises to us. ‘ Abdullah said that this is the first time in the history of the country that the status of a state has been reduced to a Union Territory. He said, ‘What has changed (after August 5, 2019)? They made big promises and accused us of being a hindrance in the development of the area.
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Tags: Ghulam Nabi Azad, jammu kashmir, Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections, Omar abdullah
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 15, 2024, 21:39 IST