Srinagar: Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma on Saturday termed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah a “tourist-in-chief,” alleging that his focus remains on foreign tours rather than governance and disposal of official work.
Addressing reporters, Sunil Sharma claimed that the Chief Minister has been away from Jammu and Kashmir for the past 10 days and was behaving more like a globetrotting traveller than the elected head of a sensitive Union Territory.
“Omar Abdullah seems to be under the delusion that he is a tourist 24×7 or running a travel blog, not a state. While the Chief Minister is busy on foreign tours, the common man in Jammu and Kashmir is facing problems related to electricity, water and healthcare,” he said.
The BJP leader also criticised Omar Abdullah for retaining multiple departments, saying the Chief Minister himself holds charge of 18 departments, including Finance, Power Development, General Administration, Tourism and Revenue.
“How can you abandon the Civil Secretariat and rush off on foreign tours to London and other destinations when you are in control of 50 percent of departments,” Sharma said.
Referring to a previous controversy, the Leader of Opposition said Omar Abdullah had earlier planned a visit to Paris when Kashmiri apple growers were facing difficulties due to highway closure.
“When the highway was shut and our growers were crying and wailing, our CM planned to proceed on a sightseeing tour to Paris, but he had to abandon the plan after facing criticism,” Sharma alleged.
Sunil Sharma further said that the BJP would lodge a “missing report” regarding the Chief Minister’s absence.
“We are going to file a missing report at Ram Munshi Bagh police station over Omar Abdullah’s disappearance. We are also consulting legal experts regarding filing a Habeas Corpus petition to produce Omar Abdullah before the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
