Srinagar: Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Thursday took a veiled jibe at Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti for calling Abdullahs a political dynasty.
He was visiting the North Kashmir Ganderbal Assembly constituency for the first time after the NC nominated him as the party’s candidate. Without taking Mehbooba Mufti’s name, Omar Abdullah told reporters, “Those who called us dynasts have not themselves joined the elections, but fielded their relatives. If they were against dynastic politics, they should have fielded someone else and not their relatives.”
This was a veiled jibe at the PDP chief who has been opposing the Abdullah family for trying to propagate dynastic rule in J&K.
Her daughter, Iltija Mufti is fighting the Assembly elections as the PDP candidate from the Bijbehara Assembly constituency in Anantnag district.
Asked about his own statement that the Assembly in the UT would be powerless, Omar Abdullah said, “I know the Assembly wouldn’t have much powers, but we have to enter the Assembly to make it powerful”.
Answering another question regarding his statement that the chief minister of the UT would have to beg before the Lt. Governor for the transfer of a peon, he said, “Let us not go into that this time. We are here to choose an MLA and not the chief minister.
“Let us think about this when the chief minister is chosen,” he said.
He also admitted that after the defeat at the hands of Engineer Rashid in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, he has learnt not to take any election for granted.
Opponents of dynastic politics shouldn’t field relatives: Omar
