Ditching I.N.D.I Alliance, outraging Omar Abdullah
Former J&K CM and Lok Sabha MP from Kashmir’s Srinagar constituency, Farooq Abdullah, on February 15, 2024, sprung a big surprise. Like other I.N.D.I. constituents, he not only ditched the Congress-led (anti-Sanatan and anti-Bharat) I.N.D.I Alliance, but also outraged his UK-born radicalized son, former National Conference (NC) chief and J&K CM Omar Abdullah. That day, Farooq Abdullah unilaterally severed all his ties with the (fast-crumbling) I.N.D.I. Alliance in a most dramatic manner.
In fact, that day, he gave an “exclusive interview” to India Today. During the interview, he said many things. Two were very significant. One was that his party (NC) will contest the Lok Sabha and J&K Assembly elections alone. The other was his unambiguous hint that he could return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“His party will contest the Lok Sabha and J&K Assembly polls alone. I don’t rule out the possibility of returning to the NDA fold in the future…Seat-sharing talks with the I.N.D.I. Alliance had failed…As far as seat sharing is concerned, I want to make it clear the NC will contest elections on its own strength. There are no two options about it…,” Farooq Abdullah, among other things, said. Obviously, it constituted a great setback to the I.N.D.I. Alliance about which he was speaking very high till not so long ago.
Farooq Abdullah, in addition, like other I.N.D.I. constituents, including the TMC, the AAP, the SP, and the JDU, accused the “uncompromising, unaccommodating, inflexible and rigid” Congress of not leading the I.N.D.I. Alliance right[1].
Gupkar gang in a shambles
It bears recalling that the hardcore separatist and rabidly anti-Jammu Srinagar-based Gupkar gang of which Farooq Abdullah is chairman and votary of self-rule and Indo-Pak joint control over J&K, or an ardent believer in the concept of shared sovereignty and supra-state measures, Mehbooba Mufti, is vice-chairperson and which also consists of half a dozen other separatist outfits, including the Congress, was not in a good shape. All the constituents, which otherwise are one as far as their anti-Bharat stand on Article 35A and Article 370 and reorganization of the erstwhile State of J&K, or the creation out of J&K Union Territory (UT) of J&K and UT of Ladsakh is concerned, were pulling in different directions.
While Omar Abdullah had umpteen times declared that his NC would not give any of the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir – Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag – it had won in 2019 (securing only a paltry 7.9% of the total votes polled in J&K) to the Congress and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba Mufti, the Congress and the PDP had, on the other hand, been insisting that they would also test political waters in at least two of the three seats, namely Baramulla and Rajouri (Jammu)-Anantnag (Kashmir) seat. Besides, the Congress had also indicated several times its intention to contest three seats – two in Jammu and the Rajouri-Anantnag constituency. The oft-repeated stand of Omar Abdullah was that the Congress and the PDP should contest election only in those three constituencies – Jammu-Poonch and Kathua-Udhampr-Doda in Jammu province and the lone Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency – which were won by the BJP in 2014 and 2019 (with a huge margin). To be more precise, it was the rigid stand of Omar Abdullah which had only served to cause serious dissensions among the Gupkar Gang members.
Fall of NC under Omar Abdullah
It needs to be underlined that Omar Abdullah, a greenhorn in politics, became president of the NC in 2002. He virtually snatched the post from his father. His rise to the top party position resulted in the great fall of Kashmir’s premier religio-political outfit. In 1996, the NC had won 57 of the 87 seats in the Assembly elections and created a history of sorts.
What was the party’s tally in the 2002, 2008, and 2014 Assembly elections under the leadership of Omar Abdullah? In 2002, the NC won 28 seats — the party’s lowest-ever tally. The newly-founded PDP had upset the NC’s applecart by winning 16 seats, all in Kashmir, especially from Anantnag and Pulwama districts. That was the reason it was called TDP (two-district party). The NC under Omar Abdullah again won 28 seats in 2008 despite the fact that it was the main opposition party in the Assembly. The poor performance only suggested that Omar Abdullah was quite unpopular even in Kashmir. And, the NC suffered an ignominious defeat in the 2014 Assembly elections. It would win only 15 seats, mostly in Kashmir.
Arrogant, obstinate, and politically immature as he was, Omar Abdullah, like Rahul Gandhi of the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, damaged his party and marred its poll prospects to the extent that it became virtually irrelevant even in Kashmir. Leave aside Jammu and Ladakh, where the NC was looked down upon by the Hindus and Buddhists for reasons not really difficult to fathom. One of the fundamental reasons was the NC’s politics of separatism, based on religious fanaticism, and its out-and-out anti-Hindu and anti-Buddhist policies.
Lambasting Farooq Abdullah
So outraged and upset was Omar Abdullah that he took no time to lambast his father, Farooq Abdullah and he used the ANI platform to take on his father, who had used the India Today platform to explain away his stand on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and possibility of rejoining the NDA camp.
What did Omar Abdullah say while tearing into his own father? He, inter-alia, said: “What his father said was a ‘reflection of what the party cadre feels’. (Indeed, a very significant statement.) On seat sharing, we have been very clear for the last few months. The seats that will be discussed are those that are held with BJP, we are firm on that position…NC has made no secrets about the fact that they would rather fight elections on all seats, but the truth is that sometimes for a bigger objective, small sacrifices have to be made. If the bigger objective is to win seats back from the BJP…then if it is necessary for the NC to enter into seat sharing with Congress, our doors are open…We have not yet had any formal discussion with Congress (on seat sharing), informally some dialogues have taken place. We are not the sort of a party that has our feet in multiple boats, once we make friends, we stick to those friends[2]. What Omar Abdullah said speaks for itself and, hence, it needs no further elucidation.
Why Farooq Abdullah’s soft attitude to NDA?
It needs to be noted that the NC was part of the NDA from July 23, 2001, to December 23, 2002, and Omar Abdullah, Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He held a vital portfolio in that government. He was MoS in the Ministry of External Affairs. He resigned from the NDA government in October 2002.
A statement in this regard, among other things, said: “Omar Abdullah has said that he resigned as a Union Minister after the 2002 Gujarat riots, but it was not accepted by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee…I had resigned, you can take out the records of Parliament, the vote that took place in Parliament on Gujarat, I did not take part in it, it is a secondary thing that Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not accept my resignation and I did not press for that, but the record is a witness that I had tendered my resignation after the Gujarat riots and did not vote in Parliament”[3].
There are potent and cogent reasons to believe that Farooq Abdullah could throw in his lot with the BJP-led NDA to escape criminal proceedings, which have been initiated against him. It’s also not a secret that his involvement in corruption is neck-deep. Take, for example, the filing of a charge sheet against him and other people by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an ongoing investigation into “swindling of crores of rupees from J&K Cricket Association and transferring the money into personal bank account.” To be more precise, he is on the radar of ED.
Besides, he has looted and plundered several acres of forest and state land both in Kashmir and Jammu and constructed a palatial house on the state and forest land in Jammu’s Bathindi, also called the Indian capital of Rohingya intruders. Not just this, he has, in collaboration with the Congress, subverted not just democracy to grab state power, but also the polity both from within and outside the establishment and caused wholesale migration of Kashmiri Hindus, Jammu Dogras, and Punjabis; leaving no stone unturned to ensure segregation of J&K from Bharat; motivating his followers and supporters to go cross the Line of Control (LoC)/ border to get arms training to fight out Bharat; asked his supporters and followers to join the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC)-sponsored secessionist movement; hurt the Hindus of Jammu and Buddhists of Ladakh to the extent possible; has done everything under the son to change the demography of Jammu to create a Kashmir-like situation; advocated the conversion of LoC into an international border, to mention only a few of his unpardonable sins. It is obvious that he believes that he would escape punishment in case he rejoined the NDA.
It is difficult to say if the BJP-led NDA admit Farooq Abdullah and his NC to the NDA. One has no other option but to wait and see.
Reaction of Ghulam Nabi Bhat alias Azad
Significantly, former J&K Congress CM and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Bhat alia Azad has reacted to the statement of Farooq Abdullah on the possibility of the NC rejoining the NDA. Terming the NC as an “opportunistic” party, “which can align with anyone provided they come to power”, Bhat on February 17 referred to their history of political opportunism and power-seeking tactics and accused the NC of prioritizing their hunger for power over the interests of the people of J&K.” Not just this, he also pointed out that “the NC had previously formed alliances with the BJP, despite ideological differences, and remained silent on critical issues such as the revocation of Article 370.” He also claimed that “I was aware of their talks with BJP in 2014[4].
Conclusion
The NC and the Abdullahs are utterly undependable. They are more dangerous than Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, and ilk because they have been subverting the polity while masquerading as mainstream politicians. They are known for exploiting state power and the institutions for weakening Bharat’s sovereign status in J&K and furthering the sinister agendas of Pakistan and China. The NC, in fact, is an extension of the MA Jinnah’s Muslim League. To trust them would be only to enable them to restart the process of separation.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] Farooq Abdullah to go solo in Jammu and Kashmir, hints at joining NDA in future – Feb 15, 2024, India Today
[2] We stick by friends: Omar Abdullah after father’s ‘go solo for 2024 polls’ remark – Feb 15, 2024, India Today
[3] I quit after Gujarat riots, it wasn’t accepted: Omar Abdullah tells critics – Apr 3, 2014, NDTV
[4] Azad hints at not contesting LS polls – Feb 18, 2014, Daily Excelsior
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Both are untrustworthy. Drama for media & publicity. Both have exhausted their life time quota of telling lies. The only thing pending for Omar to do is repeat act of Aurangzeb on his father Farooq (Shahjahan favored Dara Shikoh (another womanizer like his father i.e. true inheritor) as emperor instead of military hardened Aurangzeb-this inflamed Aurangzeb)!! Had he followed Lord Ram, he should have kept silence. There lies the difference.
Both are untrustworthy. Drama for media & publicity. Both have exhausted their life time quota of telling lies. The only thing pending for Omar to do is repeat act of Aurangzeb on his father Farooq !! Had he followed Lord Ram, he should have kept silence. There lies the difference.
It may be a good strategy to allow all the alleged thieves and scoundrels to join so that the nuisance is reduced and all of them can be kept under control for the time being and delt with later.