Declare your CM candidate ahead of next assembly polls: Omar dares BJP

Rules out pre-poll alliance, says will form next govt on its own

JAMMU: Daring Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to announce its Chief Ministerial candidate before next assembly elections, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah today said that BJP did not have any issue to go into the elections and that it had lost face and credibility among people of Jammu by indulging in rhetoric and false claims.

The former chief minister also ruled out a pre-poll alliance with any party for the elections, saying his party had joined hands with the PDP and Congress to "save the state".

"The BJPs bravado to have its own chief minister from Jammu fell flat twice, first by stitching alliance with 28-member PDP in 2015 and later while unsuccessfully attempting to form the government by surrendering before a party with two MLAs from North Kashmir”, Abdullah said while addressing NC District and Block Presidents and Secretaries of the Jammu region at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here.
“BJP is not having any new agenda or issues for elections. The public is mature enough to not trust fake promises and slogans. People want to know what they have done in your tenure,” Omar said in his first appearance in Jammu after dissolution of state assembly on November 21.

He said the BJP has let down Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and referred to the resignation of the MP from Leh in protest against false promises made with the people of Ladakh region.

“They betrayed Ladakh too and that is why their own MP, not only resigned from Lok Sabha seat but also quit the party,” he said, adding that BJP is creating panic among masses by presenting false issues like change in PRC Act which was denied by Governor.

"We will fight the (assembly) election on our own. When we talk about forming the next government on our own, then there is no scope of leaving any seat for anyone, even as I know they are eyeing some seats," Abdullah said.

Defending his party's decision to join hands with the PDP and Congress to stake claim for the formation government, the NC vice president said it was a difficult decision, taken to save the state after fighting as bitter rivals in the 2014 elections.

"We decided to do something to save the state, to strengthen the communal harmony and brotherhood, to restore peace - it was not an easy decision. I was aware that my party will suffer politically due to this decision," he said.

The NC vice president said his party is prepared to face the people, unlike the BJP which is "trying to delay the elections on one pretext or the other knowing fully that it will face a drubbing in polls".

"We have started selection of candidates for the state polls. The only condition is, give me a candidate who can win. There may be some seats where we have no chance, but there are seats which we have been winning and the time has come to take these seats back," the former chief minister said.

Seeking support from people of Jammu region, Omar said, “This time I want people to vote in large number and vote for single party.”

The NC Vice President slammed the BJP for threatening senior MLAs of NIA and CBI action against them in a bid to buy their support before dissolution of the assembly.

He said the BJP claimed that the plan to form the government was orchestrated in Dubai and London at the behest of Pakistan.

"We were not the one. But the second letter (from Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone) came from London," Abdullah said.

"When I asked him (Ram Madhav) to prove (the allegation), he took his words back, because he was caught in his own lies," he said.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on November 22 withdrew his words after a furious Omar Abdullah dared him to prove his allegation that his party had tied up with the PDP to form government in Jammu and Kashmir at Pakistan's behest.

Abdullah said the PDP-Congress-NC combine had the numbers and there was no scope for horse-trading or any other malpractice here, unlike the BJP-supported group which had only 28 MLAs together.
The governor claimed that there were horse-trading attempts, he said and asked the BJP where did the other MLAs required to form the government came from.

"I can say with authority that the MLAs got threats from agencies. One MLA was told that either be part of the government for two years or prepare for arrest by NIA.

"Another senior MLA was threatened that a CBI case against him will be opened. This is the problem those who are not able to come from the front door, are trying to grab the power by breaking the back door like a thief," Abdullah said.

"The compulsion when they (BJP) handed over the chief minister post to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is understood as they had 26 MLAs while the PDP had 28. But how they can justify bringing a chief minister from a two-member party," he said.

The NC vice president claimed that the BJP will face drubbing in the next assembly elections given the mood of the people.

"When the bugle for assembly elections is sounded, we will emerge winner.

"Our strategy will be - to highlight the failures of the previous government and to reach out to the people and make them aware about the programmes and planning of the party for different sections of the society, besides focusing on basic amenities like water, power and roads," Abdullah said.

Meanwhile, accusing the BJP of misleading the people, Omar alleged the party built the tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat, but could not keep the promise of constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

He said the BJP was reverting to its tactics of arousing religious passion for electoral success ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"After four and a half years, the BJP is again talking about religion...You have made the biggest statue dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat. You had also talked about a Ram temple but did not keep the promise," he said.

He said a small temple, not the largest in the world, would have worked.

He said the BJP was talking about the Ram temple to mislead the people.

"Now they are propagating it again. The processions are being carried out in Delhi, Mumbai and other places as the party is hearing the bells of defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls," Abdullah said.

He said time has changed and now the voters are more interested in measures taken for their welfare than anything else.