news details |
|
|
| Omar hoping against hope | | LA Polls | | Says will return to power; PDP, BJP mock at his claim
Fazal Khan
Srinagar, Aug 16: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announcing that he would be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the ruling National Conference and would return to power has made it clear that Omar has not given up and is still hoping against the hope.
Soon after Omar addressed the I-Day function in Srinagar, the NC patron and the former Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah chaired a crucial meeting of the party in the summer capital to finalize the third list of the party candidates who would contest the forthcoming Legislative Assembly polls.
Sources told Early Times that besides top leaders, including the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, NC workers also attended the meet.
NC workers and leaders are understood to have told Omar to contest from Sonawar constituency. "NC workers and leaders endorsed Omar's announcement that he would be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party," sources said.
They said that the third list of the NC candidates has almost been finalized the only problem which the party is facing is that its leaders are indecisive about the constituencies from where top guns of NC, including Omar, Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, and others would contest from. "The third list will come out in a day or two as party cannot delay it for long as the delay is causing huge embarrassment and has become a talk of the town, " said a NC insider.
He said NC facing a humiliating defeat in the recently held Parliamentary elections is one of the reasons for party not being able to finalize its candidates. "Many NC top leaders want to stay away from polls to avoid defeat," the insider added.
Sources said that Omar during the meeting exuded hope that results of the forthcoming polls would not be as bad as that of the Parliamentary elections. "We are only counting our negatives. There are many positive developments which happened during our tenure. We should not forget those," Omar's close aide is understood to have said during the meeting.
"Omar has his own following and we should not underestimate his capabilities. I believe we should stop worrying about looking for a safe constituency for the Chief Minister. He can contest from any place and win," Omar's close aide is understood to have claimed.
Sources said that one of the NC leaders said that polling percentage in the Parliamentary elections hovered around 30 percent and that's why NC lost all the three seats in Kashmir. "We have observed that during the Assembly elections polling percentage increases manifolds and there is every possibility of higher percentage helping our cause," the NC leader hoped.
Meanwhile, the main opposition parties People’s Democratic Party and the Bahartiya Janta Party ridiculed Omar Abdullah for claiming that he would be the NC's Chief Ministerial candidate and would return to power.
Talking to Early Times the PDP spokesman Naeem Akther said: "We wish him best of luck. If his wish comes true it would be the most unfortunate thing that can happen. It will be JK's bad luck. Jammu and Kashmir has suffered a lot due to his inefficiency and incompetence. His tenure as the Chief Minister will be remembered as darkest period in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar has got the distinction of being the only Chief Minister who dismantled the institutions in JK. His only positive contribution has been that he has ended the decades long misrule of National Conference in the state."
Senior BJP leader Ashok Kaul mocked at Omar's claim that he would return to power. "In democracy everybody has a right to say anything. He is day dreaming. Had he (Omar) been a powerful and a successful Chief Minister he could have contested from anywhere and won. Let him first locate a constituency and then talk," Kaul told Early Times.
He claimed that next Chief Minister would be a BJP leader from Jammu region. "We are aiming at 44 plus seats and are hopeful of winning all the 37 seats in the Jammu region," Kaul added. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
