Don’t field candidates against NC-Cong nominees in J&K polls, our agenda same: Omar Abdullah to PDP

Ganderbal: NC vice president Omar Abdullah on Sunday claimed the PDP has copied his party’s manifesto and asked the Mehbooba Mufti-led party to not field candidates against NC-Congress nominees for the betterment of Jammu and Kashmir as their agenda is the same.

Abdullah’s remarks came a day after Mehbooba said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would extend complete support to the Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance and leave all seats in the elections for the coalition if it accepts her party’s agenda. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was addressing NC workers in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, where activist Sayim Mustafa joined the party. Abdullah said the NC has prepared an extensive manifesto for the Assembly polls which has been copied by other parties. “We have not left out anything in the manifesto. Today, everyone has copied our manifesto. They should have kept some differences,” he said, referring to the PDP’s manifesto which was released by Mehbooba on Saturday.

Abdullah said his party promised to provide 200 free units of electricity if it comes to power and “they (PDP) also said they will provide 200 units”.

“We said we will provide one lakh government jobs in the first year, they also put that in their manifesto. We talked about reopening (cross-LoC) routes, it is in their manifesto as well. We talked about keeping the doors of dialogue open and they also said so. Almost everything that my colleagues put in our manifesto, they also put it,” he said.

“They (PDP) said if the NC-Congress alliance accepts their agenda, they will not put up candidates. You have put all our agenda in your manifesto. You have already accepted our agenda and now there is not much of a difference between your agenda and our agenda. Then do not field candidates and come, we will build a better tomorrow for Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Ahead of his speech, NC leaders asked Abdullah to reconsider his decision to not contest the Assembly elections. Party workers chanted slogans asking him to contest elections from Ganderbal, the family bastion of the Abdullahs.