Abstaining from Voting Will Help BJP: CM Omar

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that abstaining from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections would only help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Reacting to People’s Conference (PC) President Sajad Lone’s announcement that he would abstain from voting, Omar said that every vote not cast for the National Conference (NC) indirectly benefits the BJP.

“Sajad Sahab has decided not to vote. We know whom it will benefit if he abstains. There are two sides in this election — if any party does not vote for NC, it will automatically help the BJP,” Omar said to reporters in Baramulla.

He said the NC has appealed to all political parties, including the Congress, PDP, PC, AIP, and independents, to support NC candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls. “The NC and PDP have contested against each other in the assembly elections, but this time we appeal to the PDP to vote for us if they genuinely want to defeat the BJP,” he said.

Earlier, Sajad Lone had announced his decision to abstain from voting, describing the Omar Abdullah-led government as the “least performing administration.”

Omar said that the NC had even offered one Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress, where the party had a better chance of winning. “The PDP is part of the INDIA bloc. If the Congress had fielded its own candidate, it would have easily received the PDP’s votes,” he said.

Commenting on the regional situation, Omar said that the ongoing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan would not impact Kashmir. “However, we want peaceful relations between all countries,” he added.

He also said that the NC would soon announce its candidate for the Budgam bypolls. “Once we declare our candidates, we will inform people about our performance over the past year,” Omar said, while praising the developmental work and implementation of schemes in Baramulla. (KINS)