Amidst political uncertainty in J&K, National Conference head and former State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday called for early elections even as the Congress ruled out any alliance with the PDP and blamed the BJP for the political mess in the strategically sensitive State.
Omar favoured Governor’s rule and called for fresh elections as soon as possible so that people can choose their own Government. The Congress and the National Conference said the BJP can’t escape the blame as both the BJP and the PDP are responsible for the deteriorating situation in J&K.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had also served as Chief Minister, said the alliance has devastated the State, be it economically or socially, and left Jammu & Kashmir in ruins. He ruled out any alliance with anyone to form another Government.
After calling on the Governor, Omar said, “I just returned from the Raj Bhavan where I met Governor NN Vohra. I told the Governor that the NC did not get mandate to form the Government in 2014 elections and so we do not have the mandate to form the Government in 2018. We told him that the NC is not discussing Government formation in Jammu & Kashmir with any other political party. Neither has anyone approached us nor are we going to approach anyone from here,” Omar said.
Hitting out at the BJP, the Congress said the party ruined Kashmir as much as it could in three years and has now taken the “exit route” from this “self-created tumult”.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance has set Jammu & Kashmir on fire the damage will continue under President’s Rule. “It cost India strategically and destroyed years of UPA’s hard work,” he tweeted.
Azad termed end of the alliance between the BJP and the PDP as good for the people of Kashmir. “The BJP ruined Kashmir as much as it could in three years. In the last three years, civilian killings and Army deaths have risen sharply. There is no question of forming any Government with the PDP. The question does not arise,” Azad said.
He claimed that he had cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the floor of the House, that they had done a Himalayan blunder by having a coalition Government with a regional party in J&K.
In a series of tweets, Congress blamed the BJP, its “conniving alliance” and “lust” for power for pushing the State into an unending cycle of violence and terror and said that radicalisation at its peak and peace is biggest casualty, adding that that in four years of the alliance Government, 373 jawans and 239 civilians lost their lives.