ASSEMBLY POLL 2024: Omar, Mehbooba spar over governance, alliances

Srinagar, September 2

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC), which had earlier come together under the banner of PAGD after the abrogation of Article 370, have again started targeting each other. Top leaders from both the parties sharpened their attacks on Monday as well.

Former chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday hit out at the PDP, saying if any party had good relations with BJP’s top leader Ram Madhav, it was PDP. Referring to the statement of former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik on appointment of Ram Madhav to oversee the BJP election campaign in the UT, Omar said Malik had very close ties with the ruling party at the Centre.

“There are no two opinions that Madhav has best relations with the PDP. And it was he who brought PDP and the BJP on the same platform (in 2014) to form an alliance. Perhaps, he has been brought back for the same purpose again,” Omar told mediapersons in Ganderbal district where NC candidate Mian Mehar Ali filed his nomination papers.

Asked if the PDP would again form an alliance with BJP, Omar said, “Let them (PDP) get seats first, then we will talk.”

In South Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti targeted Omar Abdullah and NC’s performance when the party ruled the state. “The PDP tells the truth. Look at the National Conference’s governing period and compare it to ours. The National Conference governed Jammu and Kashmir for 40 out of 70 years. We had a third of the MLAs of the National Conference and yet look at our performance. There is no comparison,” she said.

Mehbooba also hit out at the National Conference over its alliance with the BJP. She said while the PDP’s alliance with the BJP was issue-based, the National Conference’s tie-up brought problems.

“When Omar Abdullah was a minister in a BJP government. They brought POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) here. They were advocating for an attack on Pakistan,” Mehbooba said.

“When we formed the government with the BJP, there were certain conditions. Our government withdrew 12,000 FIRs, we brought a high-level delegation from Delhi to have a dialogue with the Hurriyat. We had a ceasefire,” she added.

Mehbooba said the difference was evident by how the Omar Abdullah government handled the 2009 deaths of two women in Shopian and her government’s handling of the Kathua rape and murder case. “I dropped two sitting ministers. This is not opposition, these are facts,” she said.