Budgam, Sept 05: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah Thursday said contesting from two assembly seats is not a sign of weakness, but proves the strength of his party.
Abdullah has filed nomination for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls from two seats — Ganderbal and Budgam.
“My colleagues wanted to show that the NC is not fighting this election from a weak position, but a strong one. My contesting from two seats is not a sign of weakness, but strength, it is the proof of the NC’s strength,” Abdullah told reporters here after filing nomination papers.
The former chief minister said if there was any danger of his losing from Budgam, then his party colleagues would not have allowed him to contest from here.
“Whether it is Baramulla, Srinagar or Anantnag, there is a wave in favour of the NC and we hope that the party will be successful and the alliance candidates will also win,” he added.
The NC has an alliance with the Congress for the three-phase assembly polls.
Abdullah said the ground situation is in favour of his party and expressed hope the results of the election would prove that.
“We are not like those fools who talked about 400 plus (seats) and then stopped at 240. I hope when the counting takes places, we will be successful,” he said.
To a question about BJP general secretary Ram Madhav’s allegations that ex-militants are campaigning for NC and PDP, Abdullah said the BJP leader should prove his charges.
“Even that we know who the independents are that are being fielded in this election, and who will benefit from their fighting, I think it is a bit rich of Ram Madhav to say that NC is taking benefit from ex-militants. Show us where?
“The campaign has just only started. I am sure he has access to all the intelligence reports. There is not a single function of ours that is not monitored by the IB, CID or others, all the videos are there, please show us where we are taking support from militants or surrendered militants,” he said.
The NC vice president said he was under the impression that as a result of what New Delhi did in August 2019, “these people were rendered neutral, that they had no more say”.
“But, clearly Madhav is suggesting these people actually hold power over what the voters will decide. Which then would suggest that everything they have done after August 5, 2019 has been for nothing,” he said.
Abdullah said if his party is elected to power, investigations will be launched into the allegations of corruption and “mis-governance” during the last few years of lieutenant governor’s rule.
“We have already said it in our manifesto that the world will be let known through the assembly that people of J-K are not in favour of the decisions taken here. There will be an investigation into the era of mis-governance in the last five-six years, allegations of corruption, and allegations made by senior IAS officers. If any discrepancy is found, then they will be held accountable,” he added.
