Srinagar: Former Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Thursday targeted PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti for her comments that she was forced to enter into alliance with BJP following the death of her father in 2016.
“One of the reasons for the mess in J&K today – the aim of government formation wasn’t to do good & benefit the people, it was to save a party from breaking up,” Omar tweeted reacting to Mehbooba comments at the third death anniversary of her father and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
On Monday Mehbooba claimed she did not want to form a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2016 but a potential split in her party forced her to do so.
She blamed some of the leaders, who have since quit the party, for forcing her hand by travelling to the headquarters of BJP ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in Nagpur to convey their readiness to break the party to form a government without her.
“After the death of my father (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) I was not ready to form government with BJP. I put some conditions, including return of power projects, vacating of Tatoo ground, Anatnag high ground and Kargil ground (by army). These people (deserters) went to Nagpur (headquarters of RSS) where they told them to leave Mehbooba Mufti aside as they are ready to form the government with them,” Mehbooba told reporters on the sidelines of a function to commemorate her father on his third death anniversary.
“My position was weakened as the BJP was ready to concede to demands,” added Mehbooba, who succeeded her father to become the state’s first woman chief minister in April 2016. She took over three months after Mufti passed away on 7 January 2016.
