National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday appeared ready to participate in the proposed Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir predicting a victory for NC and making bureaucracy accountable for their actions, in what is being seen as the most firm indication that his party was readying for the polls.

“We will win. I want to tell you, with full confidence, that if there is a fair election, National Conference will be the biggest party,” Farooq told reporters in Srinagar after a specific query on whether his party will contest the proposed elections.

The elections are yet to be announced and while the Centre favours elections before restoration of statehood, the Valley parties have been calling for statehood before polls. The NC too had previously favoured the restoration of statehood to be followed by Assembly elections but Farooq on Tuesday chose not to delve into the issue.

Asked if officers will take calls of the people since he was indicating a change in government, Farooq issued a warning to the bureaucracy of action, as if his party was just a stone’s throw from power.

“They (bureaucrats) will not only pick up phones but they will be held accountable tomorrow about what they have done. They think of themselves as kings today. They are not kings, they are servants of people. They have to work for people,” he said, referring to the growing complaints that officers, who are mostly outsiders, refuse to even take calls of the people.

An NC leader said his party continues to favour restoration of statehood before holding Assembly elections but said only the top brass can tell if there was any change in its stance. Farooq was not available for comment.

Farooq heads the six-party alliance fighting for restoration of Article 370. When the alliance was floated in 2019, it had clearly stated that restoration of Article 370 was its utmost priority and that all their political activities would be “subservient to the sacred goal of reverting to the status of J&K as it existed on 4th August, 2019”.

The NC chief’s comments came on the sidelines of the first-ever parliamentary outreach programme for Jammu and Kashmir panchayat bodies presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, where Farooq and lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha sparred over a host of issues.

Farooq said if they were with the country, the country should also take care of them. He said India was a diverse nation and no single religion can build the nation.

“There is nothing common between those who live in Chennai or Srinagar but the binding factor was that we came together to create this country. India is a diverse nation and it cannot prosper if we don’t protect its diversity,” he said.

“India cannot be run on the basis of one religion. There is more threat from the enemy within. We know about the enemy which is outside.”

The former chief minister regretted that his party didn’t participate in the panchayat elections in 2018. The Valley parties had boycotted the rural polls to oppose the scrapping of special status. Their absence helped the BJP win many seats.

Farooq said militancy still exists and the government should not live in “cuckoo world and think everything is hunky-dory”, urging the government to provide security to panchayat workers.

Sinha, during his speech, claimed that every penny was accounted for under the new dispensation and “no one can usurp public funds like they did earlier”, in an apparent reference to the claims of Farooq that the present government was not accountable.