This statement of Omar Abdullah comes after the statement of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, in which Mufti had said that PM Modi should be grateful to the Abdullah family for allowing the BJP to implement its agenda in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah has said that he never allowed the BJP to dominate the state’s politics and even while being in the NDA, he defeated the BJP in the elections. Abdullah said that even when he was a minister in Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s government at the center and was a part of the NDA, his party did not allow the BJP to spread in Jammu and Kashmir. It even defeated the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections on the Jammu Lok Sabha seat.
This statement of Omar Abdullah comes after the statement of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, in which Mufti had said that PM Modi should be thankful to the Abdullah family for allowing the BJP to implement its agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said, “I would like to tell Mehbooba Mufti that we were part of the NDA, but we never allowed the BJP to enter Jammu and Kashmir. Despite being a part of the NDA, we did not let the BJP win the parliamentary seat of Jammu.” Abdullah said that Mehbooba Mufti should apologize to the people of the state for how she ran a failed government in collaboration with the BJP and gave the BJP a chance to spread in the state.
Earlier, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be grateful to Sheikh Abdullah’s family for playing an important role in the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with India. Mufti told reporters, “I believe Modi should be grateful to Sheikh Sahab (founder of National Conference) and his family, who played an important role in the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with India.” She alleged that when National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah was a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre, he had implemented the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in Jammu and Kashmir even before official confirmation and banned Kashmiri craft Shahtoosh. Omar Abdullah was Minister of State for External Affairs in Vajpayee’s government from July 2001 to December 2002. Before that he was Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
Mehbooba said, “BJP sent Omar to every country by making him the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs only to give the message that Jammu and Kashmir is not an issue but an issue of terrorism and it should be resolved by attacking Pakistan. I think BJP should thank Omar who implemented its agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. BJP used Omar for its own benefit.” She claimed that BJP stood at the door of PDP for three months and requested them to form the government on any condition.
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He said, “We had formed the government with the BJP on certain conditions, including not touching Article 370, opening roads with Pakistan, abolishing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and holding talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat people in Kashmir.” Responding to a question, the PDP chief said, “In my opinion, if Abdullah’s family had implemented Pakistan’s agenda, Jammu and Kashmir would not have been a part of India. It would have either been a part of Pakistan or an independent state.”
Referring to Pakistan Defence Minister Asif Khawaja’s statement on the National Conference-Congress manifesto and the Prime Minister’s statement that it was celebrated there, Mufti said, “I think the BJP has failed on every front. The BJP had claimed that they will give two crore jobs every year, which became 10 crore jobs in 10 years. After playing the Hindu-Muslim card in the country, lynching Muslims and destroying mosques, now the BJP people are talking about Pakistan. It is their failure that forces them to say anything.” (With agency inputs)
