NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday mounted a sharp attack on Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah after he claimed that saffron party is trying to buy National Conference MLAs. BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi termed the allegations “highly irresponsible and baseless” and demanded Abdullah either produce concrete evidence or issue a formal apology.Reacting to the allegations, Trivedi alleged that Abdullah is making these claims to hide the failures and misgovernance of his own administration. “Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah has made a highly irresponsible and condemnable statement, making the baseless allegation that the BJP is attempting to poach MLAs from his party. BJP’s J&K unit has strongly condemned this statement and directly asked him to either provide evidence or apologise,” Trivedi said.”The reality is that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has made this baseless allegation to conceal his government’s incompetence, inaction, and misgovernance in Jammu and Kashmir and to divert attention from these issues. We strongly condemn this and urge him to either provide evidence or apologise for his statement,” he added.This comes after Abdullah claimed that BJP attempted to lure one of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s (JKNC) MLAs with an offer of Rs 20-30 crore and a ministerial berth to switch sides. Abdullah said the MLA rejected it and informed him about the approach.”A BJP official, a Supreme Court lawyer, told one of my Jammu MLAs in a closed room, ‘We will give Rs 20 to 30 crore, one ministry, and statehood. You walk with us.’ Do they think that the faith of these people is so cheap?” J&K CM said.Deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary strongly backed Abdullah’s claims, alleging that BJP’s entire political foundation is built on “lies.””Tell me when BJP has ever said the truth. BJP’s work is all about lies. They came to power in 2014 based on lies, then came back in 2019 and 2024, and their foundation is always lies. Omar Abdullah is not one of those leaders who lie. He first investigates the full facts, and then gives a statement,” Choudhary said.”This statement from him will force the people of Jammu and Kashmir to think about what BJP wants. Elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir according to the laws enacted by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. National Conference government formed in Jammu and Kashmir, led by Omar Abdullah, is not nominated; it is elected. The people elected them, and elected them under their own laws,” he added.
