Jammu And Kashmir: Omar Abdullah Rules Out Alliance With PDP in Elections, Governor Defends Dissolution of Assembly

Srinagar, November 22: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday ruled the possibility of his party's alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming elections. Omar Abdullah clarified that the agreement with the PDP and Congress, prior to the dissolution of the state assembly, was made "to protect Jammu and Kashmir from uncertainty".

"The arrangement was made to save Jammu and Kashmir from current mess and uncertainty," the former chief minister said on being asked about the possibility of the PDP-NC alliance. Earlier today, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav asked Omar to tie up with the PDP if there was "genuine love" between the two regional parties.

A war of words erupted between Omar and Madhav after the latter alleged that the coming together of his National Conference, PDP and Congress to form a government was at the behest of Pakistan. Hitting back, Omar tweeted: "I dare you @rammadhavbjpji to prove your allegation. You have RAW, NIA and IB at your command (CBI too is your parrot), so have the guts to place evidence in the public domain. Either prove this or be man enough to apologise. Don't practice shoot and scoot politics."

Madhav responded: "Just take it in your stride @OmarAbdullah -- not questioning your patriotism at all. But the sudden love between NC and PDP and the hurry to form government leads to many suspicions and political comments. Not (intended) to offend you." Jammu And Kashmir Assembly Dissolution: What it Means For PDP, NC And BJP.

The NC leader then retorted: "No, misplaced attempts at humour won't work. You have claimed my party has been acting at the behest of Pakistan. I dare you to prove it! Place the evidence of your allegation of NC boycott of ULB polls at Pakistan's behest in public domain. It's an open challenge to you and your government."

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti in response to Madhav's tweet said she was shocked to see "baseless allegations against mainstream parties in the state. "We had aligned with the BJP to change this pernicious mindset. Undoubtedly Pakistan has an impact on the situation. But it is upto our country to change that from negative to positive and tread the path that was taken by (Atal Bihari) Vajpayeeji."

She added that "just because our MLAs had enough integrity to stand up to your (BJP) failed attempts of defection, they are now anti national? Both PDP and NC have been allies of BJP at some point. Strange that our credentials weren't questioned then.

"Sad to see what the political discourse of our country has been reduced to. How does one define a party's nationalistic credentials? Nationalistic and patriotic only if you are with the Centre and Pakistan-sponsored and anti-nationalistic otherwise? (sic)"

Meanwhile, a political slugfest continued between BJP and the opposition parties over Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik's decision to dissolve the state assembly barely an hour after the PDP staked claim to form the government with the backing from the NC and Congress. In no time, Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone made a counterclaim to power with the backing of the BJP and rebel PDP MLAs.

The Governor, however, defended his action saying the alliance between the former rival parties was opportunistic and not in the interest of the state. Asked about the charge that the PDP and the National Conference got instructions from Pakistan to form a government, Malik said: "I don't say such things. I am in a responsible post. I won't say anything without evidence.

"This grand alliance was opportunistic. There was no agreement. Even one party was saying that there was no formal interaction among them to form the government." Malik denied that he acted at the behest of the BJP.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 22, 2018 11:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).