Chief Minister and National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah Tuesday said the spirited enthusiasm of lakhs of National Conference cadre had sent shockwaves across the country and the historic performance of the party in the first three phases of the Assembly elections in the State had ‘totally unnerved’ PDP.Addressing back-to-back public meetings in Sonawar here, Omar said the ‘decimation’ of Congress from the State due to the dismal, questionable performance and conduct of its leaders had rendered the Congress’ Hand fractured and this was the reason why Congress leaders were busy in their blame-game.Addressing public meetings in Faqir Gujri, Shalla Khud, Dhaara, Theed, Harwan, Shalimar, Dalgate, Buchwara, Chatterhama and Burzhama in Sonawar Assembly Segment in Srinagar, he said the eight decade long history of National Conference spoke louder than any contrarian voices could. “We have always represented the political aspirations and sentiments of the people of our State and have given thousands of sacrifices to uphold the honor and dignity of our State. We have bled on the flag of Jammu and Kashmir to keep it aloft and we will never allow anyone to cast an eye of doubt on our political strength as a nation. Congress has become bitter and nervous due to its complete decimation from the State and wants to blame others for an inarguably questionable track-record of its own leaders in the State,” Omar said.
Ridiculing BJP’s failed Mission 44+, the Chief Minister said, “BJP’s Mission 44+ became Mission 4 Minus when despite spending loads of money and despite hiring people to attend their rally they couldn’t muster more than four thousand people. A single National Conference contesting candidate anywhere in the State addresses public meetings thrice the size of what was addressed by the Prime Minister along with more than a dozen contesting candidates of the BJP. The National Conference cadre has given a befitting response to the slander and name-calling of the BJP by yet again emerging as an army of patriots to stand by the flag, the honor and the identity of Jammu and Kashmir. We have given BJP, PDP and Congress a resounding answer in the first three phases and we will continue to answer their rhetoric by the might of our grassroots support in the remaining two phases as well,” he said.
Stating that the dignified and effective rehabilitation of the flood victims was his topmost priority, Omar alleged, “PDP played vengeful and destructive politics during and after the devastating floods and ran to Delhi to ask for elections while the Valley was still submerged. PDP and BJP are two sides of the same coin when it comes to their lack of empathy and ruthlessness towards the flood victims. Rather than putting their efforts where their words are, both PDP and BJP started a political propaganda about the floods and left no stone unturned to score brownie points over an enormous, devastating natural calamity. While PDP foisted elections on the flood victims even before they could get back into their homes, the BJP Government in New Delhi discriminated against the people of Kashmir and left them to the mercy of God. If Prime Minister Modi is allegedly so concerned about Kashmiris, why has the BJP Government in New Delhi chosen to make the people of Kashmir struggle and shiver in the winter chill by deliberately stalling the Relief and Rehabilitation Package submitted by the State Government? While the loss due to floods has been around one lakh crores, the BJP Government has thrown a pittance of a few hundred crores our way. Today I tell the BJP – the people of Kashmir are not beggars but we are a dignified, resilient and brave people who won’t tolerate being humiliated, stereotyped and abused by the BJP. We will rebuild our homes, our businesses and our lives with dignity and respect even if BJP Government in New Delhi continues to discriminate against us,” Omar said.
The Chief Minsiter said his vision for Sonawar was one of development, job creation, tourism development and world-class infrastructure creation. “During the tenure of my Government, we got 55 lakh tourists to the State as compared to less than 20 lakh in the tenure of the PDP-Congress Government. I see Sonawar with a lot of potential and I assure the people of Sonawar that I will leave no stone unturned to make Sonawar a global example in development and progress and that I will ensure that thousands of jobs are generated locally in Sonawar to boost the economy here. I will not rest until the last unemployed youth here is employed with dignity” Omar Abdullah said while expressing his gratitude to the people of Sonawar for an overwhelming response to his candidature from the Assembly Segment.