National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah. (Photo: DC File)
Srinagar: Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday that an all-out effort will be made by the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to wrest the Lok Sabha seats of Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh from the BJP. The three remaining seats of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir viz Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla were bagged by the NC in the 2019 elections.
Mr. Abdullah told reporters at the party headquarters in Jammu, “We haven’t talked yet on seat-sharing (within the I.N.D.I.A. alliance). Congress is ready for the talks, and they want us to talk to them. In the coming days, there will be a discussion, especially about the three seats (Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh) which are with the BJP.”
Asked if he is hopeful of the alliance winning any of the Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Ladakh, Mr. Abdullah said that the NC has fought and won Parliamentary elections in these two regions in the past and that an all-out effort would be made to wrest these seats from the saffron party in the coming elections.
He said, “We have won the Jammu seat once and Ladakh more than once. We will sit and discuss which method we should adopt so that we are able to get back the seats which are with BJP at present.”
He sought to clarify that the three Valley seats won by the NC last time are I.N.D.I.A. bloc seats. “What do I have to talk about within the I.N.D.I.A. alliance on these seats? The fight is not within the I.N.D.I.A. alliance. The fight is to take those seats back which are with the BJP,” he said,
When a reporter asked him if the discussion on the seat-sharing within the I.N.D.I.A. would include the three Valley seats as well in the larger interest of the opposition bloc, the former chief minister retorted,” Why are you worried about the larger interest? Are you talking over such seats in any other state which are already with the I.N.D.I.A. alliance? The I.N.D.I.A. alliance has three seats, leave them. We will talk about the three seats which are with the BJP.”
Mr. Abdullah reiterated that the BJP-led Central government has no courage to hold J&K Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously. “The BJP has no guts to hold Assembly elections (in J&K). They cannot face the public despite their claiming that the situation has improved, and massive development is taking place in J&K. They have also been boasting about abrogation of Article 370. They have redrawn the boundaries of constituencies as per their wishes through delimitation. They changed all laws and reservation set up, Mandir (construction of Ram temple), Modi and money but they know none of these is going to work for them in J&K; hence they are running away from holding elections here”.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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