'Where is he missing?': Farooq Abdullah blows holes in Congress' 'gayab' attack against PM Modi

National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah. (PTI/File)

National Conference chief and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, on Wednesday came down heavily on the Congress party for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his alleged absence and said that political parties should refrain from questioning the PM once you have pledged full support.

Abdullah's remark came amid a controversy over a social media post by the Congress party that sought to suggest that the Prime Minister was missing or "Gayab" in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 civilians dead.

“Zimmedari ke samay — Gayab," the caption of the Congress’ now-deleted post read. The image showed an old photo of the Prime Minister's clothes without his body. The BJP lashed out at Congress, alleging that it was a "sar tan se juda" imagery aimed at weakening India at this crucial juncture when the country eyes retaliation of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Dismissing the allegation levelled by his party's ally, Abdullah said the Prime Minister is in Delhi and there was no question of him "missing" in these testing times.

"Where is he missing? I know he is in Delhi," Abdullah said, according to News18. He added that his party has extended its complete support to the Prime Minister in any action that the government chooses to take at this crucial juncture.

“We have given our full support to the prime minister. After that, we should not be questioned. The prime minister should do whatever work he necessary," the former J&K chief minister said.

Notably, Abdullah, who has often been accused of taking a soft line on Pakistan, said earlier this week that he used to favour dialogue with Pakistan but the neighbouring country has murdered humanity in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

“I used to favour dialogue with Pakistan every time…How will we answer those who lost their loved ones? Are we doing justice? Not Balakot, today the nation wants such action to be taken so that these kinds of attacks never happen," he said on Monday.

“We regret that our neighbour today also does not understand that it has murdered humanity. If they think that by doing this, we will go with Pakistan, we should clear their misunderstanding. We did not go with them in 1947, so why will we go today? We threw the two-nation theory into the water at that time. Today, we are also not ready to accept the two-nation theory. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christians, we are all one…We will give a befitting reply to them," he said.