National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the party has ruined Jammu and Kashmir. He promised that if the National Conference (NC) comes to power, it will immediately restore the practice of Darbar Move, which was a process in which the capital was transferred to Jammu for six months during winters and brought back to Srinagar during the six months of summer.
Farooq Abdullah wants to restore Darbar Move
Addressing an election rally in Udhampur, Farooq Abdullah said, “If the National Conference and Congress government come to power, they will restore the Darbar Move. Stopping this practice has caused great harm to both the regions. The Maharaja who started this practice was not a mad person. This was a connection between Kashmir and Jammu, which the BJP broke.” When the Jammu and Kashmir High Court declared the Darbar Move as lawless and constitutionally baseless, the central government ended this 150-year-old practice of Darbar Move on 30 June 2021 and implemented e-governance.
Attacking the BJP, Abdullah said, “They have done nothing for Jammu. The people there did not get jobs, and the contracts are also being given to outsiders. The lands of the people of Jammu are being snatched, and no new industries have been set up here. The BJP has ruined Jammu.” He also rejected the BJP’s claim that it will form a government in Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah said, “They are building castles in the air. First let them see who wins the elections.”
Farooq Abdullah lashed out at BJP
Along with this, Farooq Abdullah accused the BJP of taking the terrorists to Kandahar and releasing them in exchange for the release of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He said, “I had warned them that releasing the terrorists will ruin us and today they are blaming the National Conference and Congress. If there was no National Conference, today Jammu and Kashmir would have been a part of Pakistan.” Abdullah called the idea of one country one election impractical for the federal structure and said that this system can bring instability in the states.
