Lok Sabha Polls: Rift widens in INDIA bloc as Omar says no truck with PDP in Anantnag seat

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah

Rift between the National Conference and the Peoples’ Democratic Party, both constituents of the INDIA bloc, has widened with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah refusing to forge an alliance on the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.

Omar cited the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s previous poll performance as the reason for not forging an alliance. The Anantnag constituency is represented by Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference in the Lok Sabha.

“In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the PDP was at the third position in the state. How can number one and number two parties afford to leave their claim and give it (the Anantnag seat) to the third one. Also, this (the constituency) doesn’t seem to have much of a support for the BJP,” Omar said.

As far as the coalition is concerned, it is the responsibility of every political party to make sure it runs smoothly, he said, adding that when the PDP attacks his party in rallies and in tweets, no one questions them.

“In the last two years, the PDP has targeted the BJP less and the NC more. When Ghulam Nabi Azad recently targeted Farooq Abdullah, the PDP joined them. What kind of coalition dharma is this?” Omar questioned.

The Congress too was informed in the beginning itself that there are only six parliamentary seats in the Union Territory and the scope for coalition is very less. However, this can be done during the Assembly election as there are many seats, he said.

“I had offered to the Congress that if Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi were interested to contest from the Anantnag Lok Sabah seat, we would leave it. For any other party, we cannot leave our seat,” Omar said.

He said that the two Lok Sabha seats of the Jammu region and one in the Union Territory of Ladakh will be contested by Congress candidates. Earlier, Omar’s father, Farooq Abdullah, the president of the National Conference, had stirred controversy with his remarks that all five seats in Jammu and Kashmir would be contested by his party.