Naveed ul Haq
Budgam, Nov 7: Asserting that the decision on ‘Vande Mataram’ programmes in Kashmir wasn’t taken by the elected government, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said that the bonhomie between Bharatiya Janata Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is still intact.
The Chief Minister also asked people not to install smart meters if they are reluctant, but added that they won’t be able to get benefits of 200 free units as promised in the manifesto.
Addressing a road show in Budgam, CM Omar said that the opposition has turned to politicising electricity. “I can stand here and say that I inherited these electricity meters. I did, but the truth is that I didn’t stop the practice of installing them as the metering reduces electricity bills and we had promised 200 free units to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in our manifesto,” he said.
“But without a meter, we can’t determine the electricity bill. This is the truth. We can’t provide 200 units of free electricity through an agreement. Free electricity can only be provided where a meter is installed, and through the meter, we know how much electricity is being used. If you don’t want a meter, don’t install it. Your electricity bill will be per agreement. But if you want 200 units free, that is our firm promise,” he said.
“We have promised free 200 units to people, if people don’t want to be part of this scheme, they can opt out. I have no objection. 200 free electricity units can be ensured through smart meters only, but if electricity bills go up tomorrow, I won’t be the one to blame,” he said.
About Vande Mataram programmes in schools, the Chief Minister said that the decision has not been taken by the cabinet or the Minister for Education. “There should be no interference in it. It should be the elected government’s decision. There should be no dictation in this regard,” he told reporters in Budgam.
Earlier during his speech, Omar said that today all forces are out to defeat the National Conference and Agha Mahmood. “Our only fault is that we remained true to the foundation on which we sought votes a year ago. In the 2014 elections, PDP sought votes to keep the BJP out of power and later joined hands with them. By bringing the BJP to power, these same people began to erode Jammu and Kashmir. We too sought your votes last year on the same basis. Did we join hands with the BJP after that? No, that’s the difference between the PDP and the National Conference. It’s a fact that if the BJP were in power today, they might have granted Jammu and Kashmir statehood. But we are not willing to make that deal.”
He also targeted BJP for not fulfilling its promise, saying that the party in centre had promised statehood to the J&K and despite having 27 MLAs from the party, the promise has not been fulfilled yet.
He also stated that the relation between PDP and BJP is still intact and asked people to question the party (PDP) about no candidate in Nagrota bye-election.
Asked about MP Aga Ruhullah’s participation in the campaigning, Omar said that they have never forced any to be part of the campaign. Whosoever is willing to campaign voluntarily, are welcome and those who don’t can also not be a part of our success in the future,” he said.
He said that he has come to Budgam to help the party candidate. “So far, the candidate has got a positive response from people. We will further put efforts to ensure the victory of the candidate,” he said.
Omar also promised a university for Budgam and also a cricket stadium and academy to the people there. “We are not among those who make election stunts. We promise whatever we can do. We had promised a resolution in the assembly, which had been done. We had promised the cabinet resolution on statehood and had subsequently been handed over to the Prime Minister. I have promised a University for Budgam like Ganderbal and cricket stadium and academy and I will make it happen. But, I appeal to the people of Budgam to ensure the victory of Aga Mehmood,” he said while replying to a query.
He said that he would thank the people of Budgam by giving them a university like the way he did in Ganderbal.
The Chief Minister also said that he is in touch with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and is planning a cricket stadium and academy for Jammu and Kashmir. “In Jammu, it would come up in Kathua and God willing we will get it and here, the cricket academy will be established in Budgam,” he said.
