Kupwara, May 09: Accusing People’s Conference (PC) President Sajad Gani Lone of being the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, former chief minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he is in Kupwara to defeat the “BJP’s candidate from north Kashmir”.
Speaking with the media persons in the Lolab area of Kupwara district, Omar, who is also contesting the election in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, said, “I am in North Kashmir to fight against the BJP’s candidate, referring to Sajad Lone. People here in Kupwara have given me a lot of respect and they have high expectations of me. I am committed to doing what I promise them if given the chance on June 04.”
The NC leader expressed his frustration at being denied permission for election campaigning, saying that while the BJP claims the situation in the Kashmir Valley has improved, he is not allowed to campaign freely. “Every day in the news, they claim they have never seen this Kashmir before, but when it comes to the election campaign, I am not allowed to do it despite having permission,” he said.
The former CM revealed that he has written to the Election Commission of India, questioning the “discrimination” against him. “I hope they will take notice of this issue and allow me to conduct my campaign smoothly,” he said.
When asked why he was being denied the campaign, Omar, without naming anyone, said, “After seeing the sea of people in our conventions, they are very worried, and that’s why they are resorting to such tactics to weaken us. But the people know everything, and they will answer the same on 20th May through their votes.”
Abdullah added, “It has been 10 years since NC has been out of government, but what has changed since then? For a minute, I will accept there has been a change in Kashmir, but I want to ask them why people don’t have electricity here. During our time, people were getting electricity at a low cost, but now they are only paying fees, and there is no electricity.”
