In an intensified verbal-duel between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC), the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday in a direct dig at the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sunil Sharma accused BJP of finally admitting that the “people of J&K are to be punished and denied statehood because they voted for NC.”
Fresh salvo came a day after the LoP launched a scathing verbal assault on the Chief Minister stating, “Statehood will come at an appropriate time, not because “Shehzada” Omar is CM.”
Reacting to an acerbic statement in equal measure, the Chief Minister, on his personal ‘X’ posted, “Unnerved by the grand show in Naushera a few days ago, finally a bit of honesty from the BJP – the people of J&K are to be punished and denied statehood because they voted for @JKNC. So much for their tall promises & claims.”
“Welcome back from Assam Mr LoP. The assembly was quiet, and far more productive, without you,” CM Omar posted with a laughing emoji, along with a video clip of LoP shared by a local news daily.
The video clip (shared by CM Omar) also carried the statement of LoP as headline and it read as “Statehood will come at appropriate time, not because “Shehzada” Omar is CM: LoP.”
LoP Sunil Sharma had alleged that the Chief Minister did not fulfill his electoral promises related to free cylinders, ration, 200 units of free power and one lakh jobs every year.
“There is nothing called governance in J&K at present. The government, its ministers are not visible on the ground. People are suffering for want of basic amenities of water, power and electricity. Employees are agitating. But the government is visible only in marathons, cycling, skiing, 5-star dinners and in rising corruption. 17-departments are under the Chief Minister but no meetings have taken place to review their functioning,” Sharma had alleged.
The latest verbal duel had a genesis in the recent statement of Chief Minister, he made in Nowshera rally, which found mention in his (CM’s) post on ‘X’ also.
On April 20 in a public rally in Nowshera, in a direct dig at the BJP-led central government, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had accused it of backtracking from its promise with regard to statehood and asked it to come clear on the roadmap to its (statehood) restoration.
He stated that delay in restoration of statehood amounted to punishment for the people as they (people) voted for it.
“BJP is backtracking from its promise of restoring statehood. In an overwhelming participation, the people across J&K voted for it (statehood). Now they (people) are being punished through delay in statehood restoration for no reason,” CM Omar said, while addressing a public rally in Nowshera.
He asked the central government to spell out when would be its “appropriate time” for restoration of statehood.
“The decision should be taken as people voted for it during polls and it is also a commitment made with the people,” the Chief Minister remarked.
“The BJP’s biggest promise with Jammu and Kashmir people was restoration of statehood and it was claimed that initial step would be delimitation, followed by elections and then the restoration of statehood. But now BJP is backtracking from this promise,” he said.
“What is this appropriate time? When will it come? And what have we to do to reach that goal?” CM Omar had asked.
“Just like when we set exams for children — we tell them what marks are needed to pass, for first division, for distinction. They know what they must achieve. Similarly, tell us what conditions we need to meet,” the Chief Minister said, adding, “Sadly, there is no clear answer about the restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“I keep asking them — tell us clearly. If you say it is your promise, if you have given your word, does your word have no value? You (BJP) repeated it everywhere — in the Supreme Court, in Parliament, in rallies, in elections– and then backtracked,” he had targeted the BJP and its government at the Centre.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also took a dig at BJP and claimed that family members and friends of NC leaders were being targeted through different means.
