National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday vowed to fight the BJP, Delhi and Nagpur as he filed his nomination from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, looking for a berth in Parliament after more than two decades.
Nagpur houses the RSS headquarters.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister claimed Delhi had brought different political forces together to defeat his party, suggesting he was not fighting any individual but the State itself.
Omar is pitted against People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, a former separatist who is widely believed to be enjoying the support of the BJP.
Omar addressed a thousands-strong rally after filing his nomination.
“We fought the previous elections despite boycotts, guns and the situation at that time. But today you see that if Delhi has brought these political forces together, it is to defeat the National Conference. If the poll in Anantnag has been postponed, it is to help Delhi and the BJP. That is why we say our fight is not against any individual, it is directly against Delhi, the BJP and Nagpur,” Omar told reporters in Baramulla.
The Election Commission of India has postponed elections in Anantnag at the request of the BJP and its ally Apni Party. The BJP is not contesting Anantnag but is supporting the Apni Party candidate there.
Omar, the NC vice-president, said his party was against what happened on August 5, 2019, and was seeking votes against that. The Centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019, resulting in the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“It is not that we are alone. We have other friends in this fight and God willing the number of those friends will keep increasing,” Omar said.
He said it was the first big election in Jammu and Kashmir after 2019 and he himself was filing a nomination after 10 years, holding it up as proof of the grim state of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir where the last Assembly elections were held in 2014.
Replying to a question on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s comment that cow slaughter will increase if the Congress comes to power, Omar said the ECI had given BJP leaders a free run to use religion and create hatred between communities.
“Others are told that they cannot use religion in the elections under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for either seeking votes or making people fight each other. The BJP’s star campaigners not only use religion but attempts are also made to divide the people, be it in the name of mangalsutra or land or cow slaughter,” he said.
“Unfortunately, attempts are being made to spread hatred in this country and that too by the party whose leader, the Prime Minister, is never tired of saying that he represents all 140 crore Indians. If he really represents 140 crore people, the effort to spread hatred, particularly against 14 per cent of the population — Muslims — is in itself very unfortunate,” he said.