CM Omar Abdullah denied Congress a safe RS seat on BJP’s directive’: Sajad Lone

Peoples Conference (PC) chairman and MLA Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has denied a ‘safe’ Rajya Sabha seat to his ally Congress on the directive of the BJP. He also announced that his party would abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sajad Lone challenged Omar Abdullah to prove that his party did not deny the Congress a winning Rajya Sabha seat on the BJP’s instructions. He said the ruling National Conference (NC) had offered the Congress an “unsafe” seat (Seat No. 4), which the Congress declined to contest.

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“Omar went to Delhi and participated in the Delhi Marathon a day before the dispute triggered between the two alliance partners on seat sharing issue. I had at that time told my colleagues that the NC will not give any Rajya Sabha seat to Congress,” he said, asking, “What could be better news for the BJP than the NC denying a Rajya Sabha seat to Congress?”

The PC chief said he may have differences with the Congress, but it remains the only party that has never allied with the BJP. “I and the PDP had aligned with the BJP. Omar Abdullah too was a minister in the BJP government. All of us have some or the other time been with the BJP. The Congress is the only party that has never aligned with the BJP,”

“I will never vote for the NC. I would have voted for Congress or any other secular party if they had fielded a candidate. We are not slaves of the NC. How would I face my workers if I vote for them? So, we have decided to abstain from voting,” Lone announced.

Lone, who is the only PC member of the assembly, said the Omar Abdullah-led government was “the most failed administration in the history of J&K”.

Accusing the NC of having a secret pact with the BJP, Lone said it was exposed when Omar went to Srinagar’s Tulip garden early morning to meet the Union Minister Kiren Rijiju after he introduced in Parliament the Waqf amendment Bill that was meant to disempower and weaken Muslims.

The NC has fielded candidates on all four seats, while the BJP has nominated three candidates making it a contest between NC and BJP.

With the NC alliance having the support of 53 members in the 88-member J&K Assembly, as against 28 by the BJP, the ruling party is expected to win three of the four seats. However with the Congress having been denied a ‘safe’ seat by Omar, it is to be seen what stance the party takes on the issue of voting.