Will Engineer Rashid back BJP if need arises after J&K polls: Omar

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday asked Baramulla’s Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid to clarify whether his party would support the BJP if the saffron party needs it after the Jammu and Kashmir elections.

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) supremo, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, was behind bars in Delhi’s Tihar Jail and was released on interim bail on Wednesday to campaign for the Assembly elections.

“Yesterday, at a seminar, when Rashid was asked whether he would support the BJP after the election, he remained silent. Why does he not say categorically that he will not support the BJP in any manner after the elections,” Abdullah told reporters in Devsar area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district after an election rally.

“Engineer Rashid probably stated yesterday that if I am ready to go back to Delhi with him, he will leave the field in our favour. Today, I say that the day he has to go back to Tihar Jail, I will go with him to drop him there. He should leave the field and sit at home,” the NC vice president added.

He said his party has talked about every issue related to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their manifesto.

“We (NC) have talked about Article 370. We have talked about the Kashmir issue. We have always talked about improving relations between

India and Pakistan. And we have also talked about the day-to-day issues of the people here. What issue have we left?” Omar

Abdullah asked.