J&K CM losing faith in INDIA? Calls for dissolution of bloc

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday sounded a jarring note about the opposition unity, favouring dissolution of INDIA bloc as there is no clarity about its leadership or agenda.

The National Conference leader was responding to a question on the coming Delhi Assembly polls, which is set to witness a three-cornered fight between the AAP, BJP and the Congress. Interestingly, the AAP and the Congress tied up for the Lok Sabha election only a few months back but are at loggerheads in Delhi.

Asserting that there was no time limit attached to the INDIA bloc, Omar Abdullah expressed dismay over the lack of clarity regarding INDIA alliance’s leadership and agenda, saying the alliance should be wound up if it was meant only for the parliamentary elections.

Abdullah said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and other political parties on the ground will decide how to effectively compete with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“After the Assembly elections in Delhi, they should call all the alliance members for a meeting. If this alliance was only for the parliamentary elections, it should be wound up, and we will work separately. But if it is meant for Assembly elections as well, we will have to sit together and work collectively,” Abdullah told journalists here.

Over the past few weeks, leaders of the AAP and Congress have been targeting each other in their campaign for the electoral tussle in the national Capital. While Congress leaders have accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of corruption and poor governance, AAP has alleged that the Congress is hand-in-glove with the BJP which rules the Centre. AAP has been able to get support from Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Shiv Sena (UBT) for the next month’s assembly polls in Delhi.

Questions regarding the future of INDIA bloc and its leadership have emerged in the months following the general election, which saw a united Opposition make big gains.

In the aftermath of the Congress suffering recent assembly poll setbacks in Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, questions have also been raised if the main opposition party should lead the INDIA bloc. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has offered to lead the bloc if given an opportunity and several partners have backed her.

Earlier, Omar Abdullah had said that the Congress must not take the leadership for granted. “By virtue of being the single largest party in Parliament, and also having the leader of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the fact that they have a pan-India footprint, which no other party can lay claim to, they are natural sort of leaders of an opposition movement,” he said. With Agency Inputs