Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday distanced himself from the “vote chori” issue raised by the Congress, asserting that the “INDIA bloc has got nothing to do with it”.His remarks came a day after senior Congress leaders attacked the BJP and election commissioners at a ‘Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod’ rally in the national capital, alleging that “vote chori” was in the ruling party’s DNA and accusing its leaders of being “gaddar” conspiring to take away people’s voting rights.Abdullah’s National Conference is a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, in which the Congress is the largest party by the number of opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha.Responding to questions on the Congress campaign and allegations of electoral irregularities, Abdullah said, “The INDIA bloc has got nothing to do with it. Every political party is at liberty to set its own agenda. The Congress has made ‘vote chori’ and SIR as its main issues. Who are we to tell them otherwise?”The Congress has claimed it has collected around six crore signatures against alleged “vote theft” and plans to submit them to the President of India.Earlier, when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was ongoing during the Bihar elections, Abdullah had claimed that the people of Bihar are “dissatisfied” with the Election Commission over allegations of ‘vote theft.’Abdullah said the Election Commission must stay true to its ideals of independence and fairness.Speaking to the news agency ANI, Omar Abdullah said, “There are concerns regarding the special dispensation that was created for Bihar, and how useful it will be for the ruling alliance will be shown when the results come out… It has left the people of Bihar very dissatisfied with the conduct of the Election Commission… We have always taken pride in the independence and impartiality of the Election Commission. I think the Election Commission must hold true to those ideals…”Later, when the Bihar poll results were declared, in which the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan was routed, Abdullah said the Bihar assembly poll outcome was more surprising for him than his party’s loss in the Budgam bypoll. Nitish Kumar, he said, turned anti-incumbency into pro-incumbency.“It is good for other states to see what Nitish Kumar ji did for voters. He set caste politics aside and focused on women, introducing schemes that helped him politically also… while Congress, emboldened by its ‘vote chori’ campaign, made seat-sharing among INDIA bloc partners more difficult,” said the National Conference chairman.Abdullah also stressed that political interference in institutions should not be tolerated.Political interference in institutions should not be tolerated and needs to be dealt with seriously, he told reporters at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in response to reports about the interference in the working and staff engagement in a power project allegedly by a BJP MLA.”Political meddling in the functioning of corporations and departments is unfortunate and worrisome. Political interference should not happen. Such matters must be viewed with seriousness. Earlier, these institutions were accountable to an elected government, but now decisions are being taken without that system in place,” Omar Abdullah alleged.