Omar Abdullah Accuses BJP of Attempting to Bribe MLA, Criticizes Centre Over Statehood Protests
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah alleged Saturday attempts to engineer defections within the National Conference, accusing the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to bribe one of his MLAs to defect. Addressing party workers in Srinagar, Omar said the BJP should not consider the NC weak: “They are designated to the back seats and that’s where they will remain.” The remarks come ahead of the NC’s statehood protests in Delhi , with Omar adopting an increasingly confrontational tone towards the Centre. Referring to a conversation with one of the party MLAs from Jammu, he said, “An MLA from Jammu came and told me that a Supreme Court lawyer affiliated with the BJP offered him between Rs 20 to 30 crore, a ministry and statehood. No one sitting here will leave the party for Rs 20 crore or 100 crore.” Omar also lashed out at the Centre over the delay in restoring statehood to J&K while incentivising Ladakh despite widespread protests there. The NC has scheduled a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 20, the opening day of the monsoon session of Parliament, seeking restoration of statehood. The party has invited several INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi , and Opposition leaders from J&K. Omar said that since taking over as chief minister, he “put my political future at risk, by trying to resolve this issue through dialogue with the Centre. I wanted to give them the opportunity to keep their word.” He added: “Our success in the last election is being used to punish the people of J&K.” Questioning why the Centre held elections while not allowing the elected government to function, he said, “What’s the point? Then you should not have held elections. If they wanted to run J&K through the Raj Bhawan and have them take all decisions, then they should not have conducted elections. Why bring us forth with our hands tied behind our backs? And that we will give you officers who will not execute your decisions.” Underlining that despite his “strength and patience” being tested, Omar said the NC government had continued to work for the people. “However, we are now being shown that we will not achieve anything without protest. We see ourselves and compare it to Ladakh and are forced to ask ourselves the question that the way the Centre is engaging with Ladakh, why not with us,” the NC vice-president said. Omar also pointed out that while being told one country should have one way of governance, for Ladakh “they are ready to extend protections under Article 371”. He said the J&K government should at least have the freedom to appoint the officers it has to work with. “We are not permitted to do that. But Ladakh is being allowed concessions in this regard because they chose the path of protest.” In the last round of talks between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ladakh representatives, discussions focused on greater democratic participation, including protections under Article 371 and proposed command over the bureaucracy. “It is not like I have stayed silent on the question of statehood,” Omar said, adding he had not lost a single opportunity to raise it in meetings with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. “In every meeting, they have told me it will happen. But when they are asked in Parliament or when the media questions them on this, they use the term ‘uchit samay’ (appropriate time). All I want to know from them is how to measure that appropriate time.” Lashing out at the Centre for holding one election after another on the promise of statehood, Omar said that just like them, “Panchayat and local body elections will be held at an appropriate time and we will decide when that is.” Both elections, along with the District Development Council polls, are due in J&K. The last Panchayat elections in J&K were held in 2018. Both bodies have since completed their terms, and fresh elections have not been announced for any level of the Panchayati Raj Institutions. The BJP denied the allegations, calling Omar’s statements “unfortunate” and “misleading”. “On the one hand, Omar Abdullah says that the central government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have repeatedly opened the doors of central government coffers with both hands and liberally released funds for development of Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, he accuses the BJP of trying to topple his government,” former Jammu Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina said. “Perhaps through such allegations, Omar Abdullah is trying to divert attention from the charges of rampant corruption levelled by his own party MLAs on his ministers.” “Why did the chief minister not report the matter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau or any other competent investigating agency, if such a serious attempt to bribe a legislator had indeed taken place,’’ asked BJP’s Udhampur East MLA RS Pathania at the BJP headquarters here. BJP National General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh said it was “deeply unfortunate that certain political leaders in India continue to ignore the brutal reality of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and instead amplify narratives that suit Islamabad. Such voices weaken India’s fight against terrorism and undermine the sacrifices made by thousands of innocent citizens and brave security personnel”. For the protest on July 20, the NC has sent out 52 invites including Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav , Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav , Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president C. Joseph Vijay, among others. In J&K, the NC has invited BJP state unit president Sat Sharma, PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Pradesh Congress chief Tariq Karra, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari, People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Grand Mufti Nasir ul Islam.
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