Omar and Mufti slam 'divisive' politics of saffron party
The fresh attack by Omar came after ailing National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, who is recuperating in London, described the BJP's agenda to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution as 'biggest worry'.
Arch rivals National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have stepped up their attack on BJP in the wake of the saffron party trying to forge alliance with smaller outfits in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accused BJP of planning to weaken the "regional amity within the state for reaping localised political dividends." PDP president Mehbooba Mufti spoke on the same line, saying that the saffron party was pursuing a "divisive agenda" in Kashmir.
The fresh attack by Omar came after ailing National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, who is recuperating in London, described the BJP's agenda to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution as 'biggest worry'.
At a poll campaign in Nobra, Omar accused BJP of pursuing different stands on the issue in the three regions of J&K. The BJP leaders in Kashmir had claimed that they would take up guns if Article 370 was revoked while their Jammu counterparts asserted that abrogation of Article 370 remained a part of the party's agenda.
Referring to Sajjad Lone, senior NC leader Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzan described the People's Conference leader as a "political mercenary out to sell the liberty, interest and pride of the people to the new masters in Nagpur and New Delhi". Lone and Ramzan are contesting from the Handwara Assembly segment.
Interestingly, the two regional parties are also not leaving chances at taking swipe against each other in the run up to the state elections.
In Kupwara district, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti urged the people to stand up to the looming political "danger in J&K and avert BJP's invasion of the state in connivance with its allies." "Seeing a mass wave building in favour of PDP, the NC leaders have started conniving with everybody including BJP and RSS to keep us out of power," she said.
Mehbooba claimed some NC veterans have realised that only a seasoned leader like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has the capability to face the dangerous, divisive designs of BJP in Kashmir. "That is why most of the NC veterans have started rallying behind the PDP's pro-J&K agenda aimed at safeguarding the state's distinct political and constitutional status."
She accused the NC leaders of using slogans like 'Azadi (freedom)', 'Raishumari (plebiscite)' and 'Autonomy' in the past with good results for itself.
Mehbooba added that now the NC was trying to bank on rhetorical catchwords like 'Article 370' and 'AFSPA' while hobnobbing with BJP at the same time.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders claimed that the new-found aggression of two regional parties was due to their fear of BJP coming to power. The BJP is now contesting from more than 70 of the total 87 Assembly seats in J&K. Of the total 32 Muslim candidates, 25 have been fielded in Kashmir. Six Muslim candidates are in the fray in Jammu and one in Ladakh. Four Kashmir Pandits, three Buddhists and a Sikh also figure in the party's list of candidates.