After Modi-Mufti hug, Omar says JK’s capital shifted to Nagpur

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 28

National Conference’s de facto chief Omar Abdullah today sarcastically remarked that PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s hug with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shifted Jammu and Kashmir’s capital to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located.

“With this hug, the South Pole and the North Pole met and the capital of JK shifted to Nagpur,” Omar, the state's former Chief Minister, wrote on Twitter as he shared the picture of Modi-Mufti hug.

Mufti, who is to take oath as the state’s next Chief Minister on Sunday and thus end a lengthy wait for government formation, met the Prime Minister in New Delhi today and sealed off the alliance with the BJP, which had emerged as the second largest party in state elections last December.

Mufti’s PDP, which he formed in 1999, had emerged as the largest party in the state with 28 seats, 16 short of the minimum majority to form the government on its own.

Omar, whose National Conference is the regional arch-rival of the PDP, while commenting about the confirmation of the PDP-BJP government in the state said the “general reaction” was muted.

“Where are the celebrations on the streets of JK? There should have been a spontaneous eruption of joy on both sides of the mountains,” Omar said. “I'm sure a few crackers will be organised between now and Sunday but the general reaction is decidedly muted,” he said.

Omar said the “expert commentators” would now be “telling us” that the Modi-Mufti “accord” was the best thing.