Madhav retracts 'Pak hand' remark after twitter spat with Omar
Jammu/New Delhi: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah's dare to BJP general secretary Ram Madhav Thursday to prove his charge that the alliance to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir was at Pakistan's behest has prompted him to withdraw his words.
The BJP and NC leaders exchanged sharp words on Twitter, a day after the state's governor dissolved the assembly.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had Wednesday written to Governor Satya Pal Malik that she will stake claim to form a government with the support of the Congress and the NC.
It was followed by another bid from the two-member People's Conference which claimed the support of the BJP and 18 legislators from other parties.
As Malik dissolved the assembly, Madhav, who is his party's pointsman for the state, alleged that "fresh instructions" were given to the two regional parties from across the border to come together and form a government.
The NC and PDP, he alleged, had boycotted local body polls in the state earlier because of instructions from Pakistan. Both regional parties have been arch political rivals in the state.
Abdullah took to Twitter to hit out at the BJP leader.
"You have RAW, NIA & IB at your command (CBI too is your parrot) so have the guts to place evidence in the public domain. Either prove this or be man enough to apologise. Don't practice shoot & scoot politics," the former chief minister said.
Ram Madhav responded, "Take it in your stride, Omar Abdullah. Not questioning your patriotism at all. But the sudden love between NC and PDP and the hurry to form government leads to many suspicions and political comments. Not to offend you." In the tweet, he added an emoji with a toothy smile.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday said all mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir had taken grave risks to bridge the trust deficit that exists between people of the state vis a vis the country, and it was strange that their credentials were not questioned when the NC or the PDP was in alliance with the BJP.
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president G A Mir Thursday asked the BJP to either apologise or make public the evidence on its allegations that the PDP-Congress-NC alliance was formed at the behest of Pakistan
Earlier on Thursday, defending his decision to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Governor Satya Pal Malik Thursday claimed "extensive horse-trading" was going on and it would have been impossible for parties with "opposing political ideologies" to form a stable government.
Malik said he had acted in the state's interest and according to its constitution.
Reacting to this, Omar Abdullah Thursday asked the Jammu and Kashmir Governor to make public reports about horse-trading in government formation in the state, saying people had a right to know who was buying legislators.
Congress national spokesperson Manish Tewari condemned Thursday the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, saying Governor Satyapal Malik acted on the directions of PM Narendra Modi and his office.
