Describing PDP and BJP two faces of same coin, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Thursday said that their only agenda is to pide people on emotional grounds, polarize the society and boom hatred to grab power.Addressing a well-attended public gathering at Darhal in Rajouri District of Jammu pision, this afternoon, the Chief Minister said that PDP never tried to create working relation with his government for the larger interests of the State and its people.“When in 2002 Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over as the Chief Minister of the State, I went to him to congratulate and assure full support of my party, the then opposition party, for the welfare of the State and upliftment of people. Yet again in 2008 when I became the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, I, without waiting for receiving any word from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, went to him to convey that politics apart we should together pull the State out of economic mess, unemployment and other issues. Though, he appreciated my intensions and agreed with me in this regard, yet instead of moving a step in this direction, he and his party started unabated false propaganda against me and my government”, he said adding that PDP has only agenda of removing me from the chair of Chief Ministership by hook or crook and grabbing power for vested interests.
The Chief Minister also revealed that a number of legislators of PDP and others contacted him during the tenure of PDP in power and offered him their support to dislodge Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. “But I told them that neither I nor my party (National Conference) believes in this kind of political games. We do principle based politics and take on our political opponents in the open political arena rather than indulging in any conspiracy for getting power”, he added.“The leadership of PDP goes to the people and tells them that they do not want power. What a lie they speak?”, he said and wondered how could PDP leadership befool the people on this count when everyone is aware of the frustration of this party to be in power. He said 2010 law and order situation in the state gives full account of PDP struggle to remove Omar Abdullah from the Chief Ministership and sit on the chair of power in the State.
Omar Abdullah said that PDP leadership did not leave even a stone unturned to convince the Prime Minister of India and other leadership in New Delhi in 2010 that Omar Abdullah is the only stumbling block and if he is removed from chair and power given to PDP everything will be OK. He said, he has seen the power hungry people but not of that dangerous degree and as hungry as PDP leadership. He said ‘the guilty conscience needs no accuser’ so, PDP’s pretension of not wanting power simply points towards the fact that this Party’s politics is only for power.Referring to the recent ‘medical seat’ scam unearthed by his government and putting the top accuser of the scam behind bars for his unscrupulous, dishonest and heinous crime against the society and the students, the Chief Minister said that instead of appreciating the government’s stern action PDP leadership has started a negative propaganda against him and the government and have forgotten their hatching up of the matter of a similar nature in 2004. “PDP set aside Crime Branch report against a particular person accused of selling the medical seats and promoted that person to the higher post”, he said.
Omar Abdullah said that the difference lies here when you are aware of the crime of a person and hatch it up for vested interests and instead of handing over him a severe punishment give him promotion to the higher post as was done by the PDP leadership. “As soon as my government unearthed the ‘medical seat scam’, we removed the officer and handed over him to police”, he said.The Chief Minister said that BJP is equally responsible for peace disturbance, creation of tension between various sections and regions of the State and said that BJP leaders are in search of occasions to flair-up communal tension to take political advantage.The Chief Minister compared PDP and BJP parties with National Conference and said that binding the bonds of love between various sections of the society, solidifying the ties between various regions and sub-regions of the society and working for equitable and inclusive development of the State constitute the pre-amble of the Constitution of National Conference. “History is testimony to the sacrifices and struggle of National Conference for upholding the secular credentials of Jammu and Kashmir, nurturing the solidarity between various regions and strengthening the love bonds between various sections of the society”, he said adding that this has made National Conference the party of people all over the State and its popularity is visible in every nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir.
On the development of Darhal, Omar Abdullah said that the non-performance of the present MLA of this area has hit the development of this area to a greater extent. “While all other Assembly Constituencies whether represented by opposition or coalition partners have witnessed tremendous development process for the endeavour and working of the MLAs, Darhal has unfortunately not witnessed the similar pace on works, despite lot of measures taken by the government”, he said and added that he would ask the District Development Commissioner, Rajouri to immediately submit a comprehensive report of various projects in Darhal Assembly Constituency requiring funds to be completed within next some months. “Efforts will be made to ensure adequate funds for these projects so that benefits accrue to the people as soon as possible”, he said adding that he will ask the Planning and Development Department to look into this aspect favourably.The Chief Minister appreciated the people for their support to him in strengthening the law and order situation and said that peace is essentially important to achieve the development goals. He appealed to people to play their important role in the strengthening of the communal harmony and peaceful atmosphere in the State.The public meeting was also addressed by Minister for Forests, Mian Altaf Ahmad and Legislator and Provincial President NC, Jammu, Devender Singh Rana.