Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (PC) President and MLA Handwara Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC) and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, alleging that the party denied Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress “on the directions of the BJP.”
Announcing that the Peoples Conference will abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Lone said his party “will vote neither for the NC nor for the BJP,” asserting that “both have become indistinguishable.”
“I would rather die than vote for the National Conference. Stop dictating to us who we should or shouldn’t vote for. You cannot label us. You are not Yuvraj,” Lone said in a scathing address directed at Omar Abdullah.
He challenged the NC’s credibility, questioning its relationship with the BJP. “You are in the dock today. Prove to the people of Jammu and Kashmir that you did not deny a Rajya Sabha seat to Congress on BJP’s orders. Prove that you are not sitting in their lap,” he said.
Rejecting suggestions that abstaining amounted to supporting the BJP, Lone remarked, “I won’t be surprised if you accuse Congress of having a pact with the BJP next. Your sense of entitlement is synonymous with lunacy.”
Lone also accused Omar Abdullah of administrative failure and “subservience to Delhi.” “Everyone knows he cannot run an administration, yet he excels at pretending otherwise. He calls others BJP supporters while he himself is in their company,” Lone said.
He went on to allege that the NC had forfeited public trust due to its conduct. “Do you expect our vote because you gifted crores worth of shawls to BJP leaders? Because you’re seen partying with them in Delhi? Or because you gave them a certificate of fair elections? Or should we support you because you were strolling hand-in-hand with the author of the draconian Waqf Bill, Kiren Rijiju, in the Tulip Garden?” he asked.
Highlighting what he described as the “human cost” of NC’s politics, Lone said, “How can I face a worker whose mother has cancer but was transferred 100 kilometres away just because his family voted for Peoples Conference?”
He further alleged that the NC was “functioning as a proxy for the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.” “You take orders from them, deny seats to other parties, and still accuse others of being aligned with the BJP. You have sacrificed everyone for them and won through lies and deceit,” he said.
Drawing a distinction between the NC and Congress, Lone said, “Congress has consistently stood against the BJP and is the only national party capable of restoring statehood. Yet you humiliate them. I have personally assured support to many Congress leaders, but for NC, we will never vote.”
Lone also took aim at Omar Abdullah’s political past, stating, “You traveled the world as a minister in the BJP-led government, justifying killings in Kashmir. The people voted for a leader but got a glorified errand boy for the BJP. You have brought disrepute to the institution of Chief Minister, it will take a decade to restore its dignity.”
Reiterating his party’s stance, Lone further said, “We will abstain. We will never vote for the NC or the BJP, they are indistinguishable.”
The press briefing was attended by several senior party leaders, including Senior Vice President Abdul Gani Vakil, Organisational Secretary Sheikh Imran, State Secretary Abbas Wani, DDC Chairman Kupwara Irfan Panditpuri, District President Srinagar Irfan Mattoo, Youth Wing President Mudasir Karim, State Spokesperson Muneeb Quraishi, and Political Secretary to the President Tassaduq Yaseen.
