Omar Abdullah on Wednesday rejected speculation that some National Conference (NC) legislators were planning to desert the party amid claims that the BJP could attempt to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at an event in Tangmarg, Omar dismissed the reports as “baseless” and accused the Peoples Democratic Party of spreading misinformation.
“If some MLAs are making efforts to leave the National Conference, do you think I would be sitting in such functions? These are baseless things,” Omar said.
He also alleged that the PDP had previously helped the BJP during the Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
“These are the same people who, on the directions of the BJP, supported it in elections. This is not something that we are saying. It is what the recent RTI reply has proved. There is no MLA in the National Conference who will leave the party to help the BJP,” he said.
The remarks come amid political chatter following statements by BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, who recently described Jammu and Kashmir as the BJP’s “next target” and claimed the party had been preparing for over a year.
On Wednesday, Sharma said the NC was “on a ventilator” because of internal issues, though he denied that the BJP was attempting to destabilise the government.
An RTI disclosure has meanwhile triggered fresh debate over last year’s Rajya Sabha election in the Union Territory. According to the RTI reply, the PDP was the only party that did not appoint authorised agents to verify the votes cast by its MLAs during the election process.
The BJP had mounted a strong campaign to secure power in the 2024 Assembly elections after a delimitation exercise conducted by a Centre-appointed commission added six Assembly seats in the Hindu-majority Jammu region.
