No Hope of Early Elections in J&K After BJP Suffers Defeat in Kargil: Omar Abdullah

SRINAGAR: Even as the National Conference, like its ally Congress, is in an upbeat mood after sweeping the local council elections in Kargil, party’s vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that the poll outcome may add to the “fears” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and, therefore, there is no hope of Assembly or local bodies elections being held in Jammu and Kashmir.

Terming the results of the 30-member Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil a referendum against the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decisions of abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K, Abdullah told reporters here, “We have no hope of elections being held in J&K any sooner after the BJP suffered defeat in Kargil. They would not like to hold the Parliamentary elections here either but that (holding Lok Sabha elections in J&K) is their majboori (compulsion).”

As per officials, the NC won 12 seats, making it the single largest party, while its ally Congress registered victory in 10 seats in the LAHDC, Kargil elections held last week. The BJP won two seats, while two independent candidates have also been declared as winners. As many as 85 candidates were in the contest for the 26 seats. Four seats in the council have nominated members with voting rights.

The NC leader said that the BJP does not want to face the electorate in J&K for fear of losing an election. “They are scared of holding elections in J&K. They do not want to face the people here,” he said, adding, “We are ready to contest but neither is the Central government nor the BJP.”

Referring to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar’s statement on elections in J&K, Abdullah said, “he would earlier admit that there is a vacuum which needs to be filled…today he said the Election Commission will consider all factors before deciding on polls in J&K. We want to know what these factors are?”