'Excuse us', let PMO speak, Omar rebukes

NC leader says PM's statement, not CM's, would assure on laws

JAMMU: National Conference leader and former CM Omar Abdullah on Friday said that chief minister Mehbooba Mufti cannot be believed what she said after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the assurances of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Excuse us if we no longer believe what @MehboobaMufti says after she comes out from these meetings. Can @PMOIndia explain 'assurances' pls? (sic)," Omar tweeted.
In another tweet, Omar said if Mehbooba had received every assurance, J&K would have been largely trouble free. "If every assurance @MehboobaMufti claimed to have received had been fulfilled J&K would be largely trouble free today," he wrote.
He said that that it is all immaterial what Mehbooba said after meeting PM Modi and what matters the most is what PM told her in the meeting.
"What she said is immaterial. What matters is what the PM said. That's the only part of this meeting that matters at all," Omar said in another tweet.
Earlier, National Conference demanded that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti explain to the people of the state what precise assurance she got from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Article 35A and the state's special status.
"What assurance did Mehbooba manage to get from the prime minister? Did the prime
minister assure her that the Central government no longer desires a 'larger debate' on Article 35A's validity - as was asserted by the Attorney General of India in the Supreme Court?
"Did the prime minister assure Mehbooba that the government of India through the Attorney General would now file a written affidavit as counter response to the PIL against Article 35A?" NC spokesperson Junaid Mattu asked.
Mattu asked the chief minister whether the prime minister assured her that BJP would stop officially terming Article 35A as "unconstitutional".
"Did Mehbooba get an assurance from the prime minister that BJP would respect the state's special status going forward and withdraw from its longstanding ideological position that demands the abrogation of Article 370? These are the questions that Mehbooba has to answer," he said in a statement here.
He reminded Mufti of "a similar assurance she lied about on the crucial issue of GST extension to the state".
Mattu said the chief minister has lost all credibility due to "such repeated ploys and deceptions aimed to mislead" the people of the state.
"All such previous claims made by Mehbooba about similar alleged 'assurances' have proved to be lies and hence the credibility of her statement is highly questionable," he said.
Referring to the statement of the state BJP spokesperson in which he reiterated the party's commitment to abrogate the state's special status, Mattu said "while we admire Mehbooba's 'insult-proof nature' despite repeated humiliation by the BJP, there is much more at stake here than her chair and "this opportunistic nexus of a government".
"It is primarily because of PDP's Faustian bargain and alliance with the BJP that the state's special status seems to be in serious peril today. Rather than enacting these theatrical performances - she should confess to her sellout and quit without any further delay," the NC spokesperson said.