Jammu: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) J&K vice-president, Yudhvir Sethi on Monday criticised National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah for “trying to mislead people” of Jammu and Kashmir and ruin the Union Territory.
Speaking to ANI, Sethi said “Omar Abdullah should speak the truth and accept that things that have gone will never come back. Secondly, despite losing in the Supreme Court, Omar Abdullah has been misleading people and that is the reason why there was so much terrorism, nepotism and corruption here.”
With elections scheduled in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, Sethi’s comments reflect the ongoing political tensions in the region.
He suggested that Omar must accept that things that have gone – referring to abrogation of Article 370 — will never come back, and he should stop misleading people.
Notably, the National Conference on Monday launched its manifesto that talked of 12 guarantees to the people of the Union Territory.
The first guarantee of the NC’s manifesto envisages the restoration of political and legal status of the Union Territory and said that the party would strive to restore Article 370 and 35A and statehood as existed prior to August 05, 2019.
Regarding talks with Pakistan, Sethi said the Indian government will only engage when Pakistan stops supporting terrorism and improves its behavior.
He also criticized the National Conference’s manifesto, calling it “useless” and “designed to push Jammu and Kashmir towards Pakistan”.
“Firstly, whatever they are saying about the prisoners being in jail is wrong and he is only misleading people. The government has said time and again that there are no prisoners in the jail. Secondly, their manifesto is made in such a manner that they want to ruin Jammu & Kashmir again. The manifesto is useless,” he said.