Omar says no election in sight and he is not hungry for power
By: Shayib Bhat VOV
Srinagar
Omar Abdullah while speaking in Kulgam on Thursday said that he has no hunger for power and wants to make the party strong at the grass root level.
He said that election was no priority for him as the central government has already given one year extension to the delimitation commission and it proves that there would be no elections in the current year.
Taking a dig at BJP Omar said that election could be the priority for other political forces but National Conference is only trying to make itself strong on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile KNO has reported from Kulgam about the utterances of Omar Abdullah as follows.
National Conference vice-president and the former chief minister of erstwhile state of J-K Omar Abdullah Thursday said that he doesn’t see Assembly elections taking place in 2021 as Delimitation Commission has been given one year extension and ‘who knows whether the commission would get more extension in future’.
He, however, said that his priority was not elections but to strengthen the party at the grassroots level.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a party function organized to pay tributes to senior NC leader Wali Muhammad Yatoo at Damhaal Hanjpora in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district today, Omar said that he doesn’t see Assembly elections taking place in 2021. “The Delimitation Commission has been given one year’s extension and who knows it may be given more extension.
Let me clarify that my priority is not elections, it may be for the others. My top priority is to strengthen NC at grassroots level, which I am doing,” he said, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), adding that “Today he had come to Kulgam to extend solidarity with NC leader Sakina Itoo on the 27th martyrdom anniversary of her father Wali Muhammad Itoo.”
Omar while replying to a query said that whether he is happy with the decentralization of District Development Councils (DDCs), he said as of now he doesn’t see any development taking place. “There was 90 per cent voting during NC’s tenure when Panchayat polls were held.
DDC members shouldn’t be used as photo-opportunity and as a diplomatic tool. These elections were held to strengthen the grassroots level. Government must distribute powers and responsibilities to DDC members so that democracy flourishes,” the NC vice-president said. On how sees the recent commitment of Indo-Pak DGDMOs towards following the ceasefire pact of 2003, Omar said that he and his party has always welcomed such steps. “We hope this step will bring the two countries closer so that they talk freely in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said.
With inputs from agencies
