BJP circulates posters of missing J&K CM Omar Abdullah
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has circulated a poster on social media claiming that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been missing since May 11. The main Opposition party has also appealed to the general masses to share any information about his whereabouts.
After May 13, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has not been seen publicly attending any Government or private function. Omar Abdullah had chaired a meeting of the council of ministers in Srinagar on May 13.
A detailed press note was circulated by the Department of Information and Public Relations, highlighting the decisions taken during the meeting. Despite Omar Abdullah’s absence, the official handle of the Office of the Chief Minister has been sharing regular updates on X.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s absence was noticed during a major demolition drive in Jammu to evict encroachers. The manner in which the drive was launched in the wee hours of May 19 triggered a political backlash, prompting the top brass of the National Conference to launch a massive damage control.
Several senior party leaders, including elected representatives of the party and the Minister in charge of the Forest Department, visited the affected Gujjar and Bakerwal families living in the area, but failed to pacify them.
To save their skin, the popular Government has already ordered an inquiry into the violation of the Forest Rights Act during a demolition drive in Jammu.
Meanwhile, reacting to the posters, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah hit back at the BJP on Friday, saying the saffron party has “nothing better” to do. “They have their own campaigns, they know what they are doing. We don’t have to answer them,” the senior Abdullah told reporters after offering the congregational prayers at the Hazratbal shrine in Jammu.
Farooq also brushed aside rumours of a split in alliance with the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir. “I think it is our enemies who are saying all this. The alliance is there, nothing will happen,” he said.
On the row over the recent demolition of homes of Gujjar and Bakarwal families in Jammu’s Sidhra area, the NC president said his party or the State Government had no role.
“We are not involved in that. They (the lieutenant governor) have done it, and an investigation is going on. It is not just in Sidhra, but also in other places in Jammu, where such attacks have taken place on Gujjars. They don’t understand that these people were the biggest sympathisers on the borders, he said.
To the Opposition, PDP’s charge that the J&K Government was following UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s model, Abdullah lashed out at them, saying, “They are the ones who created this mess.” “They ended Article 370 and 35A. They are responsible for the destruction of our State,” Farooq claimed.
Now they are raising a hue and cry. What is their job? I am sad that they do not feel ashamed. They took us towards destruction and are now beating the drums. They should first look within, what troubles they brought to the people here,” Farooq claimed.
