Kulgam, Dec 06: Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the BJP and the Election Commission “hide behind each other” when discussing elections. He made these remarks in Kulgam after addressing the party gathering organised by Constituency Incharge, Kulgam, and State Spokesperson NC, Imran Nabi Dar.
Omar accused the EC and BJP of having a fixed match. “They hide behind each other when you talk about elections,” he said. “When you ask BJP about elections, they say EC has to deal with it. When you ask EC the same question, they say we have to take consultation from the Centre.”
“In this fixed match, if anyone is suffering, it is the people of J&K – who want to have elections and an elected government of their choice. But unfortunately, this opportunity is being denied to the people,” he added.
About the Reservation Bill, the NC leader said, “As far as the representation of PoK representatives is concerned, we have already reserved seats for them. In the assembly, PoK seats have been reserved since 1947. They should do their work and fill the seats later.”
“What BJP can’t do after winning elections, they are doing it through reservation style. They are increasing the seats for their support. We are in favour of the reservation. It should have been the mandate of the elected government, but the power is being given to LG, which is wrong. The power to fill reservations should be given to the elected government and no one else,” he said.
Responding to questions about ‘Badatla Kashmir,’ Abdullah said there has been no change on the ground. “If any change has happened, it has resulted in nothing except devastation and destruction, which is the only change in J&K,” he said.
“We stand with the fight for rights and restoration of Article 370. It was the NC first, and we had the best of the best lawyer in the Supreme Court, and later, other parties joined,” he claimed. “In the future, we will continue to fight, be it in the Supreme Court or the political fight for the restoration of rights.”