Srinagar, October 14: J&K Peoples Conference President and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone on Tuesday announced that his party will abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, delivering a scathing critique of the National Conference-led government and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s leadership.
“I would rather die than vote for the National Conference. Stop dictating to us who we should vote for and who we should not. You cannot label us. You are not Yuvraj,” Lone told CM Omar Abdullah in a hard-hitting address.
Challenging NC’s credibility, he said: “Today you are in the dock. You have to prove to the people of J&K that you did not deny a Rajya Sabha seat to Congress on BJP’s orders. Prove to the people of J&K that you are not sitting in BJP lap.”
Rejecting claims that abstention signals support for BJP, Lone sarcastically added, “I won’t be surprised if you accuse Congress of having a pace with BJP”. Your sense of entitlement is synonymous with lunacy.”
Lone tore into Omar Abdullah’s administrative record, alleging incompetence and subservience to Delhi. “Everyone knows he cannot run an administration, yet he excels at pretending otherwise. He labels others as BJP supporters while he himself sits in their lap,” he said.
He listed reasons why NC has forfeited public trust: “Do you expect our vote because you gifted crores of shawls to BJP leaders? Because you are nonstop partying with them in Delhi? Or is it because you were the first to give them a fair election certificate? Or should we support you because you were caught red handed strolling hand in hand with the author of the draconian Waqf bill, MR Kiren Riju, in Tulip garden?
Highlighting the human cost of NC’s politics, Lone said, “How can I face a worker whose mother has cancer, yet was transfer 100 km away was made because his family voted for People’s Conference?
He accused NC of functioning as BJP’s proxy in J&K: “You take orders from them, deny seats to other parties, and still accuse others of being aligned with BJP. You have sacrificed everyone for them and won through lies and deceit.”
Contrasting NC with Congress, Lone said, “Congress has consistently stood against BJP and is the only national party capable of restoring statehood. Yet you humiliate them. I have personally assured support to many Congress leaders. For NC, however, we will never vote.”
Lone condemned the NC government’s legacy, stating, “You traveled the world as foreign minister of the then BJP government, justifying killings in Kashmir. The people voted for a leader, what they got was an errand boy for BJP. You have brought disrepute to the institution of chief minister. It will take a decade to restore this institution to its former glory.
We will abstain. But we will liver vote for the NC or the BJP. They are indistinguishable.
The press briefing was attended by senior party leaders, including Senior Vice President Abdul Gani Vakil, Organisation Secretary Sheikh Imran, State Secretary Abbas Wani, DDC Chairman Kupwara Irfan Panditpuri, District President Srinagar Irfan Mattoo, State President of the Youth Wing Mudasir Karim, State Spokesperson Muneeb Quraishi, and Political Secretary to the President Tassaduq Yaseen.
