Pre-poll alliance with Cong to avoid hung assembly: Omar

Srinagar: The National Conference’s pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections was formed to give the people an option to avoid a hung House, party vice-president Omar Abdullah said on Sunday.According to the seat-share agreement, the NC is contesting 51 seats, the Congress 32 and the CPI(M) one. The remaining six seats will witness a “friendly contest” between the Congress and the NC.Interacting with the mediapersons during a ‘shikara rally’ in the Dal Lake in support of Tanvir Sadiq – the party candidate for the Zadibal seat, Omar said: “Maybe they have something which allows them to see what has gone into the machines, we don’t know what has gone into the machines. What we have heard from the people, there is no room for hung elections.”“We could have gone for a post-poll alliance but the alliance has been formed (before elections) to give the people an option so that there is no hung assembly and there is no room for doubt that a govt will not be formed,” he said.Omar also claimed that the BJP would want a hung assembly as it would give it an excuse to extend the lieutenant governor’s rule. “The BJP will want to have a hung assembly so that they get an excuse to prolong the (lieutenant) governor’s rule. But the people won’t allow it to happen,” he added.Asked why top BJP leaders were not campaigning in Kashmir as much as they were in Jammu, the former chief minister said the saffron party was aware that it would not get anything from the Valley.“The BJP has nothing in Kashmir, it won’t get anything from Kashmir. We are also well aware of the BJP’s attitude towards the Muslims. Sixteen per cent of the population of the country is Muslim and they (BJP leaders) could not find even one who would be good enough to be made a minister at the Centre. When there is no representation for this population, we know what kind of thinking they have towards the Muslims,” said Abdullah.The NC leader further alleged that the BJP was harping on the “rule of three families” in J&K to hide its failures. “J&K has got nothing in the last five years. The BJP has nothing to show. So the PM and the home minister are forced to target the three families. If they had done something, they will not need to do this,” he added.Omar also said the govt should give a thought to the lower voter turnout this year compared to the 2014 assembly elections in some areas of Kashmir. “There were some areas where the voting percentage was lower than 2014. For example, in the Noorabad (now D H Pora) segment, there was 80% turnout in 2014, but this time it was 20% lower (68%). The present govt has to think about why it has happened this time despite there being no boycott and everything, according to them, is normal,” said the NC leader.Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kashmir on Monday, Omar said it was good and suggested that the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha should make a couple of more visits to take on the BJP.“It is good that Rahul Gandhi is coming. I would want him to come more often to take on the BJP top brass. The PM has visited twice, the home minister has visited thrice, (defence minister) Rajnath Singh is not tired of visiting, there are other senior BJP leaders coming. Rahul Gandhi should come to boost the morale of party cadres wherever Congress candidates are contesting,” he added. PTI