Srinagar, Apr 10: National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah Wednesday said Narendra Modi will have to answer for Imran Khan’s “endorsement” for his second term as prime minister while as PDP president Mehbooba Mufti claimed Pakistan PM had endorsed his father’s belief.
“Modi will have to answer that because it was Modi only who, till now, was saying that Pakistan and militants want the BJP to lose, but it has become clear today that it is the Pakistan which wants Modi to win again,” Abdullah told reporters here.
Earlier, in a tweet, Abdullah — a former chief minister — said Khan had “endorsed” Modi for a second term.
“So much for Modi Sahib telling the country only Pakistan & its sympathisers want BJP to lose. Imran Khan has just endorsed him for a 2nd term,” Abdullah said.
“Just imagine what all the ‘Chowkidar’ handles would be doing to @RahulGandhi & the Congress right now if Imran Khan had endorsed RG as PM in these elections? Who is the ‘tukde tukde’ gang now?” the NC vice-president said in another tweet.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Wednesday said that Prime Minister Modi with a strong mandate had a great opportunity to decisively move forward on the resolution of Kashmir issue but he squandered that opportunity.
Referring to the statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding better possibilities of resumption of meaningful engagement between India and Pakistan if Modi were to retain power at the Center, Mehbooba said it was an endorsement of the belief of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on this issue.
“Today Imran Khan Sahab says that if Mr. Modi retains power at the center, it is more likely to result in fruitful engagement between India and Pakistan. It is essentially an endorsement of the belief of Mufti Sahab that guided our party’s engagement with BJP in alliance in the state,” Mehbooba claimed.
She said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed believed that PM Modi with a strong mandate and support of RSS and other such rightwing organizations is better placed to take bold and positive decisions vis-a-vis engagement with Pakistan and he wanted to make Jammu and Kashmir a bridge for such a coming together of two countries.
“Today, even Imran Khan is saying the same thing; though PM Modi wasted that historical opportunity,” Mehbooba said.
Addressing a worker’s convention in Anantnag, Mehbooba Mufti, according to a party press release asserted that “the vision and roadmap of dialogue and reconciliation created by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed is the only pragmatic way to deal with the vexed issue of Kashmir and get the people of the state out of morass”.
