By Sajid Raina
SRINAGAR: Former Chief Minister and Vice President of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, Omar Abdullah, stated that he contested the Lok Sabha elections from North Kashmir only after being challenged by Peoples Conference President Sajad Lone.
However said that if Peoples Democratic Party President and Srinagar candidate Waheed Parra had challenged him before Lone, he would have contested from Central Kashmir.
“Sajad openly says that he is with BJP and will remain with them, so there’s no need to prove it. Those who have apple, bat, and pen-inkpot symbols are being supported by BJP; they are seeking votes for them. Although BJP is not contesting on their symbol here, they do have candidates participating in elections in Kashmir,” he said.
Responding to allegations from Omar Abdullah, Sajad Gani Lone issued a direct challenge, urging Abdullah to provide evidence for his accusations or face the consequences of being labelled “The eternal Tarbaaz”
Abdullah accused Lone of openly declaring “I am BJP” at a public event in Kupwara. However, in a swift rebuttal on social media, Lone stated, “Dear Omar Abdullah, In this video you claim that Sajad Lone openly declared ‘I am BJP, I am BJP’ in Kupwara. Can you provide the video clip, along with the venue, date, and time of my alleged statement? I will apologise if you can prove it. If you fail to do so, will you apologise? If you do neither, then you are “the eternal Tarbaaz.” (Habitual liar)
Meanwhile, the primary contest in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency is between former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), Sajjad Gani Lone of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC), and Fayaz Ahmad Mir of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP).
Omar Abdullah, Sajad Lone and PDP’s Fayaz Mir among 38 candidates have filed their nomination from Baramulla. Polling in this seat will take place in the fifth phase on May 20.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, National Conference’s Mohammad Akbar Lone, who received 133,426 votes — 29.29 per cent defeated JKPC’s Raja Aijaz Ali who grabbed 1,03,193 — 22.65 per cent — by a margin of 30,233 votes.
