Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday took digs at lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, with the NC chief asking him to “stay ready to pack his bags and leave” and the PDP leader accusing the LG administration of “imposing a political replica of the dreaded counter-insurgency force of the 1990s”.
Though National Conference chief Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mufti have in the past targeted the LG administration and the Centre over a host of issues, on Saturday they separately mounted an all-out attack on Sinha over purported reports of the BJP losing ground in the ongoing general elections.
Abdullah and Mufti were jailed on the “orders” of the Narendra Modi government after it revoked the special status granted under Article 370 of the Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
Appearing convinced that the BJP was on shaky ground, Abdullah told a rally in Hazratbal here: “The police are calling elders and youths and telling them that they were with the hurriyat (a group of separatist organisations). In reality, they are trying to create fear among you. We do not have to fear them, as tomorrow they will be under your feet and their pride will go away. I want to tell LG to stop harassing people.
“If you think by using the police to harass our people, you (the BJP) will win the elections, you will lose it by (doing) such things and Inshallah (god willing) you are losing the polls. Not only in Jammu and Kashmir, you will lose across India. I can give you in writing. Then, you (LG) will have to pack your bags and return to the village where you came from,” he said.
The campaigning for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat — locked in a triangular contest between NC’s Aga Ruhullah, PDP’s Waheed Para and Apni Party’s Mohammad Ashraf Mir — ended on Saturday.
Mufti said voting for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat was postponed from May 7 to
May 25 to help “the party of suited-booted Ikhwans”, a reference to the BJP friendly Apni Party. Ikhwan was a dreaded state-backed counter-insurgency force. “We had ended the Ikhwan raj. They have created political Ikhwans whom they support fully, the whole government machinery supports them,” she said, asking LG to stop the “drama of elections”.
