Says talks on with Cong for three LS seats
Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday said there was no possibility of his party joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The former chief minister said some people make attempts to weaken the NC whenever they feel that the party is becoming strong.
“Conspiracies are hatched and statements are presented in a distorted manner,” he said.
“Let me make it clear that there is no food, window or even a crack open for the NDA. We are not going to knock at their doors and there is no possibility of us joining them,” Omar Abdullah, who is vice-president of the party, told reporters here.
He was reacting to a report by a private channel which had claimed that NC president Farooq Abdullah had hinted at the possibility of his party joining the NDA bloc.
About the Assembly elections, Omar Abdullah said the NC would want to win enough seats to undo the changes made by the BJP.
“Our aim is to come back (to the assembly) with a sizable number of seats so that we can start to undo the damage that the BJP has done to Jammu and Kashmir since 2019. To undo the damage, we obviously cannot be part of the NDA.
“Our entire campaign at that time, when assembly elections happen, will be to target the BJP for everything they have done to Jammu and Kashmir. So, saying that we are preparing to join the NDA is a wrong, falsehood and without any basis,” he added.
Omar Abdullah said his father’s comment on seat sharing with the Congress-led INDIA bloc and going alone in the forthcoming Parliament elections were also taken out of context.
“The party president, while coming out of a meeting, voiced the sentiment of the party cadres that NC should contest the polls alone. Our stand on seat sharing has been very clear right from day one. There are six Lok Sabha seats in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Three are with NC and three with BJP.
“We are open to discussing seat sharing with the Congress on the three seats that are with BJP right now,” he added.
He ruled out any discussions on sharing of seats in the Kashmir valley as these seats are already with the NC.
“If the aim of INDIA alliance is (to) stop BJP, then why ask for the seats which are already with INDIA alliance. If the aim is to strengthen your party (Congress), then you have come to the alliance with the wrong aim,” he added.
He also said that NC is a part of the INDIA grouping and will continue to be.
Omar Abdullah’s clarification came shortly after NC chief Farooq Abdullah told reporters that the party would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and possible Assembly polls in the Union Territory on its own.
“We were a part of the INDIA alliance and we still are. Things have been taken out of context. The main idea of the grouping is to defeat the BJP because there is no point in sailing in two boats,” Omar Abdullah said with his father, also the party’s Srinagar MP, by his side.
Farooq Abdullah, he said, was echoing the general sentiments of party workers.
“NC workers want to fight elections on all six seats but the truth is that sometimes for a bigger objective, small sacrifices have to be made.
“If the bigger objective is to win seats back from the BJP, it is necessary for the National Conference to enter into a seat sharing understanding with the Congress. Our doors are open,” the party’s vice-president said.
Informal talks with the Congress are already on and there is scope for further discussions, he said.
“…I would like to make it very clear that our commitment to the INDIA grouping remains even though the founding members of the alliance have unfortunately left over the past few weeks. We are not among those who will leave. We will continue our discussions with the Congress and hope to arrive at some agreement soon,” he said.
The six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag, Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh. Of these, the three seats in the Valley — Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag — are with the NC. The other three are with the BJP.
“…Once we make friends, we stick to that…I would like to make it categorically clear that no door, no window and not even a crack is open for NDA,” Omar Abdullah said, dismissing reports that Farooq Abdullah was hinting that the NC was not averse to joining the NDA as “mischievous and concocted”.
He said his party’s job was also to get the maximum number of seats in the assembly elections, as and when they are held, so the process of “undoing the damage done to Jammu and Kashmir by the BJP” can begin.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the union territory next week, Omar Abdullah said, “We will also get to know how much development has happened in Jammu and Kashmir.”
One thing that the people would like to hear from the prime minister is whether his party will honour the Supreme Court’s decision to hold assembly elections before September this year, he said.
“Also, the prime minister, who is the biggest supporter of one nation, one election, should begin the process by holding simultaneous elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” Omar Abdullah said.
The National Conference has been a part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) grouping formed last year and comprises the Congress, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), Trinamool Congress, DMK, Left parties among others.
The AAP and Trinamool Congress have said they would be going alone in Punjab and West Bengal.
The upcoming parliamentary elections will be the first major electoral exercise after the special status of the erstwhile state was abrogated in August 2019.
