‘Won’t fight polls if Oppn commits to restore Article 370': Sajad Lone

Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone on Saturday said that the NC was ‘fooling’ the people of J&K by talking about restoring J&K’s special status. Noting that the National Conference was part of the INDIA bloc, Lone said he would not contest the polls in Jammu and Kashmir if the party gets the opposition grouping to publicly commit to restoring Article 370.

“Mark my words, if they issue a statement today, I will withdraw my (nomination) papers… But, if they don’t, then they (NC) should stop lying” Lone said.

While speaking about challenging the abrogation of Article 370 in SC, Lone said that it might have been a mistake, but not doing so would have made things worse for the mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir. Lone said if mainstream parties refrained from pursuing legal action, the Centre could have propped up any individual or group to bring the case to the apex court.

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In an interview with PTI, the Peoples Conference leader said, “You see we could have worked together and said let us save it for a rainy day. But, that could not have stopped somebody else from going to the Supreme Court.”

“Say tomorrow, they select someone to go to the court… getting a court judgement is not that difficult. Our staying away would have made things worse politically for us at home…” he added.

In December last year, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s decision from August 5, 2019, to revoke Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The court said that Article 370 was a temporary provision.

Meanwhile, Lone, who is pitted against former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat, said, “I honestly believe that the people of J&K deserve that their voices be heard post-2019. If I am elected, I would be (that) voice.”

“We live in a digital world, and Parliament is the highest, the supreme constitutional platform that you can probably have and I see it as more of a medium to communicate… you have a lot of untold stories of Kashmir, of the anger that is here, of the atrocities, of the wrongs… I am not saying that everything is wrong, but, there are many things which I believe that even the people of India, through their representatives, deserve to hear,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)

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