Elections our right, won’t beg for it: Omar Abdullah

Says ECI should come clear, speak about pressure on them for delaying polls

Srinagar : Former chief minister and National Conference Vice President, Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that he won’t beg for the assembly elections, saying that electing their representatives is the right of the people.

Talking to the media persons here at Nawa-e-Subah, Omar  said that it is upto the Election Commission to take a call on the conduct of polls in Jammu and Kashmir. “We are not beggars, we too have self-respect and won’t bow down to beg for the assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir,” he said.

He added that the Chief Election Commission has itself claimed that there is a vacuum in J&K, if it is, then why the polls have been delayed so far. “The ECI should come clear that the elections cannot be held because of the pressure on them,” he said.

Pertinently, J&K has been without an elected government since June 19, 2018 when the BJP-PDP coalition government ended after the BJP withdrew its support to the coalition government. The assembly polls were last held in November 2014 in which PDP bagged 28 seats followed by BJP 25 seats while National Conference and Congress won from 15 and 12 assembly seats respectively.

Reacting over the statement of the Army officer, wherein he stated that the time is not apt to withdraw the troops from the Valley, Omar said that they also believe that the situation is not good. “The militancy has erupted from the areas where the militancy was eliminated completely. The Army officer is right in saying that the situation is not good here,” he said.

He further stated that by conducting the G-20 event in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has portrayed the other image of J&K before the participants, but it is the local people, who have been facing hardships while passing through the roads as the traffic situation has worsened. “It takes almost 40 minutes to cover a 20 minute destination. The students are not able to reach schools on time, the employees are not able to reach offices on time,” he said—(KNO)