Omar Abdullah praises 'old friend' Rahul Gandhi: 'Taking fight directly to PM'
Omar Abdullah praises ‘old friend’ Rahul Gandhi: ‘Taking fight directly to PM’
National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday heaped praise on “his old friend” Rahul Gandhi and said that the Congress leader was giving a “direct fight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” in the Lok Sabha polls.
“Rahul Gandhi is putting the most spirited fights in the Lok Sabha elections. He is taking the fight directly to the Prime Minister and this is why the Prime Minister is relentlessly attacking him individually,” Abdullah said while speaking exclusively with India Today TV.Â
“The belief that the more people see Rahul Gandhi, the less they will like what they see and the more they will gravitate towards PM Modi is something that does not hold any ground. Rahul Gandhi has very cleverly done away with all the tags BJP has sought to put on him,” the former Chief Minister added.
Notably, both the National Conference and Congress are contesting Lok Sabha elections in alliance under the umbrella of the opposition-led INDIA bloc.
While NC will fight elections in Anantnag, Baramulla and Srinagar seats, Congress will field its candidates in Udhampur, Jammu and Ladakh Lok Sabha constituencies.Â
Further in his interaction, Abdullah also said that the Lok Sabha elections 2024 were a first for the people of the valley in many respects and wondered why they were deprived of an elected government since 2018.Â
“This election for us is a first in many respects. It is the first election for us as a Union Territory. It’s the first election for us after the momentous events of August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was written down. It is the first election that is being fought in an area that has gone from a state to union territory,” the NC candidate from Baramulla said.Â
When asked about democracy returning in Jammu and Kashmir, the former Chief Minister said, “The tragedy is in the word that you used, ‘returning’. Why have we been deprived of democracy? What was our crime? Our status and our relationship with the rest of the Union was altered without any consultation with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Why have we been deprived of an elected government since 2018?”
Abdullah also said that the Lok Sabha elections, for most of the people, have become a way to register their sentiments about what they feel about Jammu and Kashmir.
“The level of enthusiasm of the National Conference workers stems from the fact that they haven’t had a chance to be heard for quite a few years now. I keep pointing out we had a parliament election in 2019. After that, everything went all silent. So, this is the time when the workers have the opportunity to come out and make themselves heard,” he said. Â
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