Brig Anil Gupta, State Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party
Jammu, May 04: Repeated rant by Abdullahs of holding early assembly elections is mainly for self-interest since Omar Abdullah id desperate to be back in the corridors of power in Jammu & Kashmir, stated Brig Anil Gupta, State Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Not very long ago and in the recent past the state underwent the largest ever democratic exercise for grass-roots empowerment, but Abdullahs unilaterally declared the boycott of the Urban Local Bodies and Panchayat elections ignoring the aspirations of thousands of party workers and activists. “Since these elections would have empowered the ordinary workers of the party and reduced the dynastic hold over the party, Abdullahs found it convenient to boycott the same” stated Brig Gupta adding further, “In order to assuage the sentiments of its dwindling cadre, Abdullahs chose the emotive issue of Article 35A and 370 as the excuse for boycott.” In any case, in the scheme of things of Abdullahs self-preservation is paramount and the aspirations of the junior leadership and cadre who form the edifice of Party’s strength find the last priority asserted Brig Gupta.
Not much has changed since then except that BJP is vociferously talking of removal of the contentious Articles 35A and 370. But Dr Abdullah’s desperation to enter the Parliament did not make him even wink an eyelid in deciding that his party will contest the election. Not only that he stitched a pre-election alliance with Congress in which he conceded three seats to Congress and secured just one seat for himself (Srinagar Constituency) and agreed for a “friendly match” on other three. “In one stroke, Abdullahs for sake of personal gain sacrificed the interest of the once largest political party of the state reducing it to a sub-regional party with ‘we also ran’ tag and confined to Kashmir Valley only,” rued Brig Gupta.
Sensing imminent defeat and afraid of the backlash from cadre’s anger, Junior Abdullah has resorted to time tested formula of playing a ‘victim card’ and his favourite past time of tweeting, “It says a lot about Congress and its approach to J&K. There hasn’t been a single election meeting by its leadership. Contrast this with the number of rallies addressed by Modi and Amit Shah. It’s inexplicable how the BJP was simply given a walk-over as far as the optics of the campaign were concerned.”
The poor response of the people to an emotive issue like 370, has not dampened the spirit of the Abdullahs. They are keeping their spirits high under the false notion of “there is no alternative,” stated Brig Gupta. Five years of political isolation by New Delhi has made Omar Abdullah desperate to return somehow to the corridors of power. That is the reason for his eagerness to hold early assembly elections and accusing PM Modi of being the only PM who has not been able to hold assembly elections in the time since 1996, the reasons for which he fully understands.
Abdullahs are also under pressure from the Hurriyat leadership since they are unable to bear the heat of sustained operation launched against them by the NIA and Enforcement Directorate (ED), stated Brig Gupta.