Srinagar, Dec 23: Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led NDA government in the centre won’t conduct Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir anytime sooner following defeat in District Development Council polls.
The Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) swept the first-ever DDC election in J&K by bagging 112 seats while the BJP secured 74 seats out of 288 seats in 20 districts of J&K.
Upping the ante at BJP, Abdullah said that if the saffron really believes that the democracy has won, they should accept that people have rejected August 5, 2019 decision by voting en mass for PAGD.
Omar , who is the vice president of National Conference, said that it’s amusing to see the desperation of the ‘BJP propaganda wallas’. “Yesterday they were talking about three seats in the valley and today it’s about being the single largest party,” he said, adding that the BJP isn’t even embarrassed about making comparisons with NC which contested far fewer seats due to the alliance.
“With this defeat, I don’t think that the centre will conduct Assembly elections here anytime soon. Had they believed in democracy, they would have announced the Assembly polls by now,” he told reporters during a press conference.
“BJP is not ready to digest the fact that the PAGD has won… so now they are saying that the democracy has won. If the decision would have been in their favour, they have shouted from the top of buildings that anti-nationals and pro-Pakistani have lost. But now that they have lost, they say democracy has won… We are also saying that the democracy has won, we have always been for the democracy and democratic process in J&K,” Abdullah said.
The former chief minister said that the alliance has been from day one saying that it will fight for the rights of the people democratically and within the ambit of the Constitution of India. “We are not here to disrupt the atmosphere. We are here to make the atmosphere conducive… But if you really believe that the democracy has won then you need to listen to the voice of the people. People have in large numbers said that they don’t accept the decision of August 5,” he said.
The centre on August 5, 2019 abrogated Article 370 and Article 35 A, besides divided the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – J&K and Ladakh.
“Till yesterday BJP was saying that the PAGD has no support at ground level and it is an alliance of two families. Now we have participated in the elections and proven you wrong…
with the decision of August 5, 2019? How long will you tell the world that people of J&K have nothing to do with Article 370? If this would have been the truth, you (BJP) would not have performed in DDC polls so badly,” he said.
