Omar govt has failed on every front: BJP

The BJP on Wednesday alleged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government has “failed on every front” and existed only on paper.

“It has almost been three months that the NC government has been in power, but they have failed on every front. They have failed to keep their guarantees which they had mentioned in their manifesto like providing 12 free gas cylinders, 200 units of free electricity, 10 kgs rice, one lakh jobs and regularising daily wagers,” BJP’s J&K spokesman Altaf Thakur said at a press conference here.

Referring to the snowfall in the plains of the Valley, including Srinagar last week, Thakur said there was “light snowfall, but even on the fourth day today, link roads are still closed”.

“NC (government) made huge claims, but they were only statements. They cleared the snow from the roads only on papers, provided electricity only on papers. Abdullah has run the government through statements only and they have failed on ground zero. There are viral videos in which people are saying snow be cleared from the roads, and electricity be provided,” he added.

Thakur accused the Chief Minister of making a U-turn on his promises.

“Making U-turns has been a tradition of Abdullah and the NC governments. When out of power, they used to say we will throw (electricity) meters in Tawi (river) in Jammu and Jhelum (river) in Kashmir. But now that they are in power, they are saying round-the-clock electricity will be provided only when 100 per cent metering is completed,” he added.

The BJP spokesperson asked Abdullah to come up to the expectations of people, saying they have high hopes with him.

“You had made huge promises, but have failed in fulfilling them. We condemn that people had to face difficulties even due to little snowfall,” he said.

Thakur said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would connect Kashmir with the rest of the country through a Vande Bharat train on January 26.

Meanwhile, in Jammu, BJP’s chief spokesperson for J&K, Sunil Sethi alleged that National Conference (NC) was running the government in a visionless and directionless manner.

“During the recent Assembly elections, the BJP got a major vote share in Jammu as well as in the Kashmir region. Even if the party was not able to form a government, it stands steadfast on all the promises it made to the voters in its election manifesto. Those promises are the commitments of the party with the people of J&K made after thorough discussions and all financial considerations,” said Sethi.

He further alleged that NC has developed a leadership crisis and may break down in the coming time. “In 2025, the BJP will emerge stronger and will be victorious in all upcoming polls like ULB and panchayat.”

The BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit also said the party has added 1.75 lakh new members in the Valley in its membership drive. The BJP had 3.5 lakh members after the last membership drive in 2019.