Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti have entered into a verbal brawl over their parties’ past and present relationship with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Even as BJP or Modi have no stronghold in Kashmir Valley, the two prominent mainstream leaders discuss them in every public meeting and accuse each other of hobnobbing with the “communal party”.
Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that PDP had tacit understanding with the BJP and Modi. “Hidden meetings of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed with the close associates of lal Krishna Advani and his close contact with Narendra Modi has come to fore, thus exposing the ideology of the PDP”, Abdullah said at a public meeting in Shopian district of south Kashmir.
Rebutting the claims, Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said in Handwara pocket of north Kashmir that there was no “hidden contact” between Sayeed and Modi. She accused that National Conference (NC) was the party that formed an alliance with BJP at the Centre to seek power in the past.
The NC was part of Vajpayee-led NDA and Omar Abdullah served as junior Minister of Industries and Foreign Affairs.
“Those who say that PDP has hidden contacts with BJP should not forget the past. In past it were these people who for sake of a ministerial berth allied with NDA at Centre. For these people BJP was sacred then and now it has become unholy for them,” Mehbooba said adding that people know it well who are and were hand in glove with the BJP.
Omar Abdullah had accused PDP leaders of hunting with the hound and running with hare.
Mehbooba Mufti said that those who accuse us of having contact with BJP are misleading people. She said that PDP has no contact and relationship with BJP and it is not power hungry.
Mehbooba however, described Vajpayee’s tenure as historic and mentioned the then Prime Minister’s visit to Kashmir in 2003 as memorable when he offered to work for resolution of Kashmir in the ambit of humanity. “Vajpaiee’s statement was historic in its nature as no less than PM of India declared among thousands of people that Kashmir issue is to be resolved within the ambit of humanity,” she said.