Banhal (J&K), (CNI) In a veiled attack on the BJP, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday accused it of “destroying” the country’s communal harmony. that DPAP led by Ghulam Nabi Azad is helping the saffron party to divide the secular vote in Jammu and Kashmir

 

Abdullah took part in a road show to campaign for India Bloc candidate Chaudhary Lal Singh in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Congress’ Lal Singh is pitted against Union Minister and BJP candidate Jitendra Singh in the Udhampur-Kathua parliamentary constituency, which goes to polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

 

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President Waqar Rasool Wani was with Abdullah during the road show in the saline area of Banhal.

 

“There are two types of ideologies, one which is on pilgrimage to spread hatred, destroy communal harmony, demolish mosques and incite bloodshed and the other which aims to unite the country, overcome religious differences. , to restore brotherhood and ensure peace” said without naming anyone.

 

Umar, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “Your vote will have an impact for the next five years and so you have to choose who to vote for this time because there is no way to correct yourself later. Not a chance.” He accused Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Azad of fielding a candidate from the constituency at the behest of the BJP to split the secular votes in the Chenab Valley region.

 

“The BJP MP represented this seat for 10 years but today they need someone to help them… Why did DPAP field a candidate only from Udhampur? Why not from Jammu where they belong to the BJP?” They could field a Hindu candidate to cut votes. They have not fielded him (Saroori) to win the seat otherwise Azad himself would have contested from there,” Abdullah said.

 

He lamented Azad’s “playing into the hands of the BJP” and asserted that his father, Farooq Abdullah, was very close to the DPAP chairman.

 

Abdullah said it was the National Conference that facilitated the entry of Azad, a Congress veteran, into the Rajya Sabha twice.

 

“He (Azad) was one of the tall leaders and we were of the opinion that he could be the President or Vice President of the country if the Congress comes to power,” Abdullah said.

 

Azad resigned from all party posts in August 2022, describing the Congress as “totally destroyed” and accusing its leadership of “cheating” the party in the name of “fraudulent” internal elections.

 

He launched the DPAP in September that year after ending his more than five-decade-long association with the Congress.

 

Abdullah said that Congress gave everything to Azad and he was a leader of national stature. But he ruined his political career and reduced himself to a parliamentary constituency leader, he said.

 

“The period for which he was a member of the Congress Working Committee is more than my age. While leaving the Congress, he had announced the formation of a national party, but how many candidates have he fielded in the Lok Sabha elections? When his party announced his candidature from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, he went on record saying that he was not consulted,” said 54-year-old Abdullah.

 

The fact that when the NC fielded its candidate Mian Altaf from the seat, Azad’s legs began to tremble and he got a signal to withdraw from the BJP, Abdullah claimed.

 

The NC vice president said that the PDAP candidate in Udhampur would only “weaken the voice” of the people.

 

“Remember to vote for the hand symbol (Congress) because voting for other symbols will go to Lotus (BJP) which divided Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, our identity,” he said.

 

Respect and constitutional rights have been taken away and destroyed.” Criticized the administration for not declaring a holiday on Eid-ul-Fitr and for transferring a person to the Imam of Hazrat Bil’s shrine who converted to Islam during Ramadan.

 

He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance of granting assembly and statehood status to Jammu and Kashmir during a rally in Udhampur this week and said, “The Supreme Court has already ruled on holding assembly elections.” A deadline (September 30) has been set for this. Jammu and Kashmir and thus Modi’s comment is not in favor of the people. “In Jammu and Kashmir, the assembly was dissolved in 2018 and since then we have been demanding elections to restore democracy,” he said, adding that it was only the BJP that won Jammu and Kashmir. And the statehood of Kashmir was taken away and it is not a favor to restore it.

 

“What has the BJP done and what new projects has it initiated in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 10 years? During the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, the (Jammu-Srinagar National Highway) four-laning.

 

The approval was given, while the work on the railway line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country was also started by the Congress government.

 

He said that no new school or college was opened or upgraded, while the much talked about industrialization of Jammu and Kashmir did not happen in the last 10 years. (CNI)