J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah
BUDGAM: J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday accused ally Congress and opposition PDP of not fielding candidates against BJP in an upcoming assembly bypoll in Jammu’s Nagrota, asserting it was only his National Conference (NC) that was taking on the saffron party across the Union territory.Omar made the comments ahead of November 11 bypolls in Nagrota and Budgam, where he and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti intensified their campaigns. The CM accused PDP of maintaining friendly ties with BJP, citing the past alliance between the two parties. Mehbooba slammed Omar’s one-year-old government as a failure.The bypolls are being held as Budgam fell vacant after Omar won two seats in assembly polls of October 2024 and retained Ganderbal. In Nagrota, BJP MLA Davinder Singh Rana died within weeks of being elected.“Two constituencies are going for bypolls-Budgam and Nagrota. When PDP leaders come to you, you should ask them about their candidate from Nagrota. Tell them we are ready to vote for you in Budgam but first tell us the name of your candidate in Nagrota,” Omar said in Budgam’s Mirgund village.The CM also took potshots at Congress. “We were ready to give Nagrota to Congress, but it took them four days to decide whether to contest or not. At midnight we got a call from Congress saying they will not contest, and we should field our candidate. The nominations were to close the next day, so we decided overnight and filed papers by morning because we wanted BJP to face a challenge in Nagrota. And now, they taunt us,” Omar said, adding NC did not believe in politics of deceit.In neighbouring Sholipora village, PDP’s Mehbooba reminded people of NC’s promises last year to provide 200 units of free electricity, 10kg of ration per household, one lakh jobs, and a rationalised reservation policy. “Last year, you gave NC and the Congress around 50 seats in the (90-member) assembly. What has happened since then? Houses are being blasted, properties attached, raids carried out every day, and people arrested,” Mehbooba said.Omar won big in Budgam last year but didn’t visit the constituency after picking Ganderbal, the PDP chief alleged. She claimed the CM rejected a PDP-framed assembly resolution seeking ownership rights for families living on state land for decades.“If you again vote for NC, it will only embolden the chief minister and his party and they will feel what they have been doing for the past year is justified,” Mehbooba said. She emphasised, though, that the real Budgam contest is between NC and PDP, describing others as mere “vote-cutters”.
