PM promises imminent statehood; Omar Abdullah dares BJP to field candidates in J&K

Prime Minister Modi has come to campaign for the BJP candidate in Udhampur as the party is facing a united I.N.D.I.A. candidate Chowdary Lal Singh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday promised imminent statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and assembly elections soon. He was campaigning for BJP candidate Dr. Jitendra Singh in Udhampur and promised people of Jammu and Kashmir that they will soon get their statehood and also will reap the benefits of real development happening on ground.

Prime Minister Modi has come to campaign for the BJP candidate as he is facing a united I.N.D.I.A. candidate Chowdary Lal Singh.

On Friday National Conference announced its candidates for two parliamentary segments of Baramulla and Srinagar.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been fielded from Baramulla while from Srinagar former minister and influential shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi will contest on NC ticket.

Congress has already said that they will support the NC candidates in Kashmir while the National Conference will support its candidates in Jammu and Ladakh.

After being nominated as the candidate, Omar Abdullah challenged BJP to field its candidates on the three parliamentary segments of Kashmir.

He claimed that he will quit politics if the BJP candidates do not lose their security deposits in Kashmir valley.

Asserting that if BJP has done so much in Kashmir post abrogation of article 370, why are they not fielding their candidates? He said that BJP was hiding behind their proxies in Kashmir.

Later talking to media he said that BJP was only playing games behind the scenes to counter National Conference and other such forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Referring to a recent meeting between BJP General Secretary in charge Jammu and Kashmir Tarun Chaugh with Altaf Bukhari and Sajad Lone, he said why BJP needs support of Peoples Conference and Apni Party in Kashmir.

Omar said that the fight is not against any individual in the coming parliamentary polls but against the might of BJP.

He said that the party has decided to field him in North Kashmir as they want to defeat the BJP led central government as they have invested a lot for Sajad Lone to win this seat.

Later talking to news agency Omar said, “The way in which they [BJP] are trying to create alternatives to parties like the National Conference, the way in which they are conspiring to try and bring their associate parties together on one stage and therefore I see this as an opportunity to take the fight directly to the BJP and to the Centre”.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s statement in the election rally in Jammu about the restoration of statehood and holding of assembly elections he said that the central government is not doing any favour for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said it would have been a favour if the government would have granted statehood or held elections before the Supreme Court ruling. “This has become a compulsion on them to conclude elections before September 30”.

While the restoration of the statehood promise by Prime Minister Modi has evoked a lot of political reactions, common people are watching the coming parliamentary polls with a lot of curiosity.