Dissolve assembly to end horse-trading rumours: Omar Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday reiterated his demand for immediately dissolving the state assembly to end rumours of horse-trading and breaking up political parties.

“NC is on record demanding the dissolution of the legislative assembly. The cure for all these rumours of horse-trading, breaking political parties over government formation will be solved with the dissolution of assembly,” Abdullah said at the party headquarters.

“We are not demanding early elections. We understand that it will take time to create a climate conducive for elections in Kashmir, but at least for the meantime, you can put an end to this unnecessary and unseemly sort of rumour mongering,” the NC leader appealed.

Jammu and Kashmir is under governor’s rule after BJP withdrew support to the PDP from the ruling alliance on June 19. With the assembly suspended, rumours have been doing the rounds that the BJP was trying to poach some PDP MLAs, although the saffron party’s Ram Madhav said the party was for continuing of governor’s rule.

When asked about the churnings in PDP, Abdullah said that only three or four MLAs had spoken against its leadership.

“It is their internal matter and the PDP leadership has to resolve it. NC neither had a hand in the making of the PDP nor it has anything to do with internal matter of the party,” he said.

When asked about BJP’s purported talks with Congress and NC for government formation, he said that he had no such talk with the BJP.

He also dismissed BJP’s claims that the situation in Kashmir had improved since governor’s rule was imposed.

“I don’t think the overall security situation has improved in Kashmir after the imposition of governor’s rule in the state. There has been bloodshed. Three people were killed in Kulgam the other day and militancy has not declined. To say that the situation has improved in Kashmir suddenly with the imposition of governor’s rule will not be apt,” he said.

Earlier, addressing party workers, he fired salvos at PDP and BJP for betraying the people of the state during their rule and for indulging in mudslinging and blame game now. He called both the parties power-hungry and “nalayak” (incompetent).

“I have requested the governor (N N Vohra) repeatedly to bring this state back to the condition it was when I left office in 2014. Give us the same harmony which was there from 2009 to 2014. There is a sea-difference in the situation today compared to what it was when we left the office,” he added.

He also accused the BJP of being power hungry, which can stoop to any level and has no inhibitions to stoke communal passions in lieu of power.