Unlike the Opposition PDP, the ruling coalition in Jammu & Kashmir is specifically campaigning for the Parliament polls and educating the people on the choice of future Prime Minister of India.
“It (polls) has nothing to do with the election of MlAs or the Chief Minister. That occasion will be before you in November this year and we will fight those elections on the basis of our historic achievements in governance and development during the last five and a half years”, CM said in South Kashmir’s Tral town while addressing a gathering of party workers.
“All votes cast against the National Conference-Congress coalition candidates would automatically be votes cast in favour of Narendra Modi,” he said urging the voters to ensure “communal forces represented by the BJP and helped by PDP do not come to power”.
“That would be a dangerous consequence for the country in general and for Jammu & Kashmir in particular,” Abdullah said. In contrast, the PDP candidate Mehbooba Mufti is asking voters to gear up for Assembly polls in October after what she calls “the change in Government at the Centre”.
Abdullah was not greeted with bouquets and buntings in this sensitive south Kashmir town known as one of the few hotbeds of militancy in Kashmir with a group of active local and foreign militants in the area.
The town was under virtual siege on the CM’s arrival as every nook and cranny was under tight vigil of armed soldiers, policemen and paramilitaries. A shutdown was observed in the town until the CM concluded his visit and left.
The CM has been greeted in the town with shutdowns in the past also. On November 21, 2013 shutdown was observed in the area when Omar arrived for the first time during his tenure. On December 18, he faced the same hostility.
The constituency is represented by PDP in the State Assembly. People say that the area has been perpetually neglected by successive regimes on the development front. A bunch of corrupt officers and their client contractors are ruling the roost in the region.