Accusing the BJP of relying on “horse-trading” to win even a single Rajya Sabha seat from Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the upcoming election for the four seats of the Upper House will clearly reveal which political party or legislators stand with the BJP and who are genuinely in the opposition.
Replying to questions of reporters on the issue of Congress refusing to contest the “unsafe” seat that was offered to them by the National Conference (NC), Omar said the NC had set aside one seat for Congress but the party has backed out. “We had kept one seat for Congress. They decided not to field a candidate. We believed Congress had the best chance to win that fourth seat, but they felt otherwise,” he said.
Omar announced that the NC will independently contest all the four Rajya Sabha seats, as the Congress, its alliance partner, has chosen not to field a candidate.
BJP’s victory beyond their strength would be achieved through “money power, muscle power, or the use of agencies,” and if that happened, “what people are saying about the BJP’s role in the Bihar elections will be considered true.”
He also hit out at the BJP’s claim of winning three Rajya Sabha seats. “BJP cannot win even a single seat without horse trading. They need 30 votes to win a seat, and they have only 28. No MLA beyond those 28 has supported them so far,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister said that the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections will expose which MLAs align with the BJP and which genuinely oppose it.
In an apparent bid to prevent the six MLAs of the Congress from possibly abstaining from polling, Omar warned that any MLA who abstains from voting will be directly supporting the BJP.
Responding to BJP’s claim that the NC stalwart Dr. Farooq Abdullah was denied a mandate for Rajya Sabha, Omar dismissed it. “Who says Dr. Farooq Abdullah was not given the mandate? He himself decided to step back. Does anyone have the courage to say that he wanted to contest and was stopped by the party?” he said.
He also said that Farooq Abdullah will not contest the Budgam Assembly seat either. “If someone is not willing to contest a Rajya Sabha seat, they will not take on the strain of an assembly campaign,” he said.
Describing him as the tallest leader of J&K, Omar said that Dr. Farooq Abdullah is the guiding light of the National Conference and his role will remain important wherever he is.
On the Budgam bypoll, Omar said that no election is straightforward. “NC will put its best foot forward in Budgam and we will rely on the wisdom of the voters,” he added.