Omar accuses New Delhi of hatching conspiracy to silence him

Ganderbal, Sept 06: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday accused New Delhi of deliberately working to diminish his political influence.
Speaking to a public gathering in the Wayil area here, Abdullah reflected on his past electoral defeats, including his loss in the Baramulla Parliamentary seat.
Omar said that initially, he thought the loss was due to personal factors and luck, but now suspects a “larger strategy” aimed at “silencing” him.
He said there is a pattern that jailed candidates are being fielded against him in constituencies such as Baramulla, Ganderbal and Budgam.
The NC Vice President specifically mentioned Sarjan Barkati, a jailed activist from Shopian, whose family recently submitted his nomination to contest elections in Ganderbal and Budgam. Abdullah views this as part of a broader effort to undermine his political standing and diminish his role as a representative of the people.
“After losing the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, I thought my opponent, Er Rashid, had simply been more fortunate. However, I began to question the pattern when I decided to run in the Ganderbal assembly polls. Reports surfaced that Sarjan Barkati, who is in jail, was being propped up to contest against me. This raised my suspicions of an orchestrated effort,” he said.
Omar said while he understood Er Rashid’s local roots in Baramulla, but noted that Barkati, from Zainapora-Shopian, had no direct ties to Ganderbal. This further fuelled my belief in a “larger conspiracy”, he said, adding, “To protect my candidacy, I and my team adopted a strategy of collecting nomination papers from multiple constituencies and keeping our final choice secret until the last moment.”
“This is not just a personal fight but a battle for the survival and dignity of the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” Abdullah said, urging his supporters to come out in large numbers on polling day.
The former CM reaffirmed his commitment to resisting the alleged attempts to suppress both his voice and the rights of the region’s people.