SRINAGAR: Former chief ministers, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, reacted sharply to Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) President Ghulam Nabi Azad’s claims that the duo (Abdullahs) meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah ‘secretly’ at night.
The National Conference leaders’ remarks came hours after Ghulam Nabi Azad in an interview to India Today claimed that Farooq Abdullah and son Omar Abdullah held secret meetings with Modi and Shah late into the night.
Abdullah said that he would meet the Prime Minister or the Home Minister during the day if he had to and asked why Azad was “defaming” him.
“If I have to meet PM Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah, I will meet them during the day, why should I meet them at night? What is the reason that he has thought of defaming Farooq Abdullah? When no one wanted to give him a Rajya Sabha seat, I was the one who gave him a Rajya Sabha seat, but today he is saying all this,” the National Conference chief said, according to ANI news agency.
“They want to malign my image and drag my name into every matter. He should reveal the names of his agents who are sitting at the residence of the PM and Union Home Minister. He should tell people so that they can understand the truth,” he added.
Omar Abdullah too lashed out at Azad for his comments on the ‘secret meetings’ and ‘prior knowledge of 370 revocation’. Taking to X, he reminded the former Congress leader that he (Azad) was the only former chief minister in J&K who was free after August 5, 2019. Taking a dig at him, Omar remarked, “Time will tell who is ‘Azad’ and who is Ghulam”.
He tweeted: “Wah bhai wah Ghulam Nabi Azad, so much bile today. Where is the Ghulam that was begging us for Rajya Sabha seats in J&K as recently as 2015? “Abdullahs knew about 370” yet we were detained for more than 8 months including under PSA & you were free, the only ex CM in J&K free after 5th Aug. “Abdullahs meet secretly” yet my father is the one thrown out of his Govt house when he wasn’t MP & you are allowed to keep your ministerial bungalow? “Abdullahs say one thing in Kashmir & another in Delhi” yet PM cries for you in Rajya Sabha & criticises us in every speech. Let’s not forget the Padma award for which you agreed to leave Congress & help BJP in Chenab valley. Who is azad & who is ghulam, time will tell & people will decide.”
After the reaction from Abdullahs, Azad backtracked and said that he never made the allegations. ANI reported him as stating, “I never claimed that he (Farooq Abdullah) met him (PM Modi). I said that through sources in Delhi, it has come to be known that he tries to meet the central leadership that too only at night. I never said that he met or got an appointment.”
Earlier, in an interview to India Today TV, Azad claimed that the Abdullahs only sought late-night meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to avoid scrutiny.
He also alleged that the Abdullahs were duplicitous, “saying one thing in Srinagar, another in Jammu, and something else in Delhi”.
Ghulam Nabi Azad also spoke about an alleged meeting between the Abdullahs and PM Modi on August 3, 2019, just before the scrapping of Article 370. “He claimed that rumours swirled in Delhi that the Abdullahs were taken into confidence regarding the decision, and had even suggested placing leaders in the Valley under house arrest,” the India Today said.
He further alleged that they had made calculated efforts to forge an alliance with the BJP back in 2014. “I’m aware that NC was desperately trying to form a government with the BJP in J&K. I had told PM Modi on the floor of the House not to indulge in any political adventure in J&K,” Azad asserted.
Earlier in an interview with the India Today TV, BJP leader and a former leader of National Conference, Devinder Singh Rana too claimed that the NC was keen to tie up with the BJP in 2014, for which Omar Abdullah led the negotiations. The BJP had not accepted their ‘requests’, Rana claimed. He said, the National Conference had made several attempts thereafter.
Rana averred that even after 370 abrogation, “several such attempts were made.”
The controversy started with Farooq Abdullah’s interview to India Today TV last week, wherein, he expressed regret that the seat sharing with the INDIA bloc had so far no worked out and hinted at going solo in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
He also hinted that a possibility of an alliance with BJP led NDA was not a closed option for the party.
Omar Abdullah, however, distanced himself from the remarks.
Omar clarified that NC is a part of the opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), and said it is in talks with the Congress for an arrangement in three of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
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