Owais Gul
Srinagar, Oct 22: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday exuded hope that the National Conference (NC) would emerge victorious in all four seats in the Rajya Sabha elections, slated to be held on October 24. He also urged the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma, to stop issuing baseless statements.
On the sidelines of the joint strategy meeting, the Chief Minister told media persons that ahead of every Assembly session, a Legislature Party Meeting is conducted, and today, NC and other independents held a meeting to devise a strategy.
“This session is different from others as elections for the Rajya Sabha are being held, and a strategy was being prepared to secure victory in all the seats,” he said, terming today’s meeting as significant.
“I am thankful to Tarigami and other independents for attending the meeting. With the enthusiasm that can be seen among the NC MLAs and other independents, I am hopeful that NC will secure all four Rajya Sabha seats,” he said.
Furthermore, the Chief Minister, while replying to a query about Congress’s non-participation in the meeting, said that they did not join as they had their own meeting. “Congress has always maintained that they will not allow the BJP to emerge victorious. Congress has its own system. There is a difference between their party and ours. They have to wait for the party high command’s decision, whereas we take decisions here,” he said.
“The Congress high command cannot be in favour of the BJP,” he said, referring to Congress’s participation in the Rajya Sabha elections. He added that although, at the local level, Congress was ready to contest the bypolls, the high command decided to leave the seat for NC, and therefore, the candidate was announced.
Regarding PDP’s support, the Chief Minister said, “Our leader, Shami Oberoi, met PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti today and requested, on behalf of the party, to support the NC candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. Earlier, Dr. Farooq Abdullah also spoke with her. Although no decision has been made public by the party yet, they have promised us that a decision will be taken after internal discussions,” he said.
On the LoP’s statement, the Chief Minister said that he must clarify who made the offer to form a government with the BJP. “We have not made any such offer. We don’t hide anything. The LoP must stop issuing these baseless statements,” he added.
