SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the most out of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah’s pitch for a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a rally in Hyderabad, PM Modi asked the Congress to explain its stand on the remarks by its ally in Jammu and Kashmir. On his target were leaders of all Opposition parties who have sought to put up a united front against the ruling BJP government.
The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, however, appeared unperturbed by the scathing attack by Prime Minister Modi and acknowledged how the PM kept a keen eye on his speeches.
In a series of tweets, Omar also asked the Congress and other opposition parties to distance from his remark and thanked PM Modi for raising his speech at a national platform. He also said that NC doesn’t need other parties to endorse the position on Jammu and Kashmir.
“Dear friends in the Congress & other opposition parties. Please don’t hesitate to distance yourselves from my speech of today. In fact call Modi ji’s bluff by doing exactly that,” he said.
“I’m humbled by the attention PM Modi pays to my speeches & very grateful to the social media cell of the BJP for highlighting my speech today, especially by WhatsApp’ing it to journalists. Your reach is far greater than mine,” Abdullah added.
He also clarified that the National Conference always stood for the restoration of the terms of accession which Maharaja Hari Singh negotiated for Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and “we have done so unashamedly”.
Abdullah’s response came after PM Modi asked the Mahagathbandhan leaders if they stood in support of Abdullah’s comment. “Two Prime Ministers for Hindustan? Do you agree with it? Congress has to answer and all the Mahagathbandhan partners have to answer. What are the reasons and how dare he (Omar Abdullah) say that,” he asked.
Modi added that he will not allow anyone to divide India till time he is in the office.
“National Conference wants two PMs, 1 in Kashmir & 1 for rest of India. Does Mamata Didi agree? Does U-Turn Babu agree? Does Pawar Sahab agree? Does former PM Deve Gowda Ji agree? Shame on the Opposition! Till Modi is there, no one can divide India!” he opined.
Abdullah had during a rally in Bandipora warned the Centre against scraping Article 35A of the Constitution which grants special status to the Muslim majority state. He said that those threatening to do so should know that J&K would get back its post of Prime Minister and Sadr e Reyasat.
“Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state. Other states joined Hindustan without putting any condition. We put conditions, didn’t come for free. We put some conditions to keep our identity intact. We said – we’ll have our own identity, our own constitution, our own flag,” he said.
“J&K also had a prime minister, but the centre scrapped that. We’ll take that back one day,” he added. (PTK)
