Kolkata, July 28: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference leader (NC) Omar Abdullah has taken a dig at the NDA government on Saturday. While speaking at a function in Kolkata, Abdullah said that a strong union was required for a strong country, but a strong Union could not come at the cost of the states. Raising questions at the Centre, the former chief minister said, “Where does it say that for a strong Union you have to have weak states?” The NC leader further added, “You only have a strong Union if you have strong states.”

Abdullah expressing his view about the present functioning of the central government, said, “Today India isn't as strong as it could be as we're facing problems in numerous states-Maoist insurgency in parts of the country, problems in north-east or J&K.” The former chief minister also said that the weak states had held the Centre back from progressing they should have done.

Yesterday, Abdullah reached Kolkata to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for gathering Anti-BJP support by forming a Federal Front to stop the party from coming to power again in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The NC leader on Friday also hinted at supporting Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as the prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. The Congress also has extended support to Banerjee or BSP leader Mayawati as the PM candidate. Abdullah met the West Bengal CM at the state secretariat Nabanna for over half-an-hour.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2018 01:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).