| Fearing midterm polls, NC raises autonomy bogey | | |
Early Times Report
srinagar, Feb 25: As the stalemate over Government formation between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues, the opposition National Conference has started fearing that midterm polls could be an option and has started raising the autonomy bogey to lure the voters.
The National Conference working president Omar Abdullah and his father Dr Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on New Delhi and accused it of "violating the terms of accession."
"Jammu Kashmir's alliance with India was on certain terms that India will only have control over our currency, communication, defence and foreign affairs and the rest will all be ours and we called that autonomy," Omar said addressing party workers in Srinagar.
Urging New Delhi to go by those terms on which Jammu Kashmir had entered into an alliance, the former Chief Minister said, "We maintained those terms but you broke them."
Holding New Delhi responsible to the conflict situation in Kashmir, Omar said it had failed the people of the State by breaking the conditional terms of alliance and by dictating what they should eat, what language they should speak.
"Omar lashing out at New Delhi and talking about accession is a clear indication of the fact that NC has foreseen that snap polls are in the offing and time has come for the party to raise its time tested slogan of restoring JK's autonomy," an analyst told Early Times.
He said, "NC facing humiliating defeat in Parliamentary and Assembly polls in 2014 has been a big setback for the oldest party of the Valley. This time around father-son duo has realized that if they want to gain the lost ground they would have to do reach out to people and stop behaving like monarchs."
The analyst said, "If mid-term Assembly polls are held in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP would have an edge over NC as Mehbooba could become the first politician in the history of Jammu and Kashmir to have given up the Chief Minister's chair for the sake of people."
Another Kashmir watcher said, " NC leaders by questioning the JK's accession with India are trying to appease the separatists and want to convey it to the militants that they (NC) also sails in the same boat."
"History stands testimony to the fact that NC during the past 60-years has fed people on mere slogans and whenever it has got a chance to rule the State NC workers and Ministers have looted the State exchequer with both their hands. NC leaders, including Omar and Dr Farooq Abdullah, know it very well that people don't trust them anymore and they need something to sell if polls are announced in JK," the Kashmir watcher alleged.
He said, "Omar Abdullah during his tenure as the Chief Minister proved to be a big failure and couldn't do anything for the State despite Congress being at the helm of the affairs at the Centre. Omar was snubbed by Congress on many occasions. When Omar was the Chief Minister of JK, it was apparent that he (Omar) had been cut to the size and he was nothing more than a puppet for Congress led UPA Government." |
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