SRINAGAR, Nov 4: Blaming his coalition partner for ‘stopping him to do what he wanted to do for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister Omar Abdullah in an interviewto a news channel said the Congress created difficulties for him as a result he couldn’t achieve what he wanted to. He alleged that Congress party did not allow the coalition to settle fully and he faced many difficulties because of the non-cooperation of Congress with his party.
Omar Abdullah according to CNS also criticized Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for pressurizing Manmohan Singh led Government not to revoke draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from certain parts of Jammu and Kashmir. “I wanted revocation of the AFSPA. Then home minister P Chidambaram backed me to the hilt on this issue, but the UPA Government buckled under BJP pressure and scuttled the move,” he said.
While responding a question, Omar Abdullah said, “J&K is a difficult state. It has three distinct regions. Jammu is Hindu majority. Ladakh is Buddhist majority. The BJP could perform well both in Jammu and Ladakh as the former is Hindu majority region while later has Buddhist population. The BJP has many star campaigners. The Modi wave is there. Modi has galvanized the BJP in the state. There are four-cornered contests in Kashmir. The BJP can achieve its mission. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is helping the BJP. Voters are the chief determinants. It is for them to appreciate or not appreciate my work as chief minister,” he said.
Omar added that he is fighting the coming election all alone as his party has no ally. “My father (Farooq Abdullah) is unwell. He is not there to advise me. He will not campaign for the NC. The NC doesn’t have many star campaigners. I have to campaign for the party in all the 87 Assembly constituencies. My single-point agenda is to lead the party in the election,”
he said adding that Modi’s wave is sweeping the state and it would not be surprising if the BJP achieves its stated goal of 44+ in the upcoming assembly elections.
BJP can do well in Jammu, Ladakh: CM - Kashmir Times