

Ex-J&K CM Omar Abdullah talks elections, alliances and more in freewheeling chats with TOI.

On Twitter, we have seen a camaraderie between two former chief ministers — you and Mehbooba Mufti…

There haven’t been too many Twitter exchanges. I think this whole issue has been blown out of proportion. I don’t know why certain sections of country are happier when politicians are enemies of each other. I would like to believe we can oppose each other without personal enmity.

Do you rule out any pre-poll alliance with PDP or Congress for the Lok Sabha and state polls?

At this stage, there are no overtures. But then, I am only the vice-president. Any conversations or decisions would be taken at a level above my pay grade.

How do you look at Rahul Gandhi as chief of Congress and Priyanka Gandhi ’s entry into the party?

As far as Priyanka Gandhi is concerned, I think Congress wanted to bolster its organisation structure in UP after SP and BSP didn’t leave much for them. As far as Rahul goes, he has in recent months grown into a pan-India opposition leader. We have seen him taking the fight to PM Narendra Modi more often. His press conferences are open and have unstructured interactions.

Your party has been part of NDA and UPA before. In 2019, which alliance will it be part of?

There is no discussion on this at all. But it is extremely unlikely that my party will throw its weight behind BJP.

Any consensus on the opposition’s prime minister candidate? The names of Rahul, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee are being discussed…

This will be determined after the last vote is counted.

Do you think your father Farooq Abdullah could be a PM hopeful?

I will be extremely surprised if my father threw his hat into the ring. He has never harboured PM ambitions.

NIA, ED and CBI have swooped down on Hurriyat, Jamaat-e-Islami and other separatists. Your take?

You will have to ask the people who are doing this. I am neither in the state, nor the central government. In case of JeI, the motive seemed to more political. In the most peaceful times, JeI functioned without restrictions. I am talking about the post-militancy period.

You agree the recent air strikes by the air force in Pakistan’s Balakot were necessary?

The response was necessitated by circumstances. A visible response was needed. I was part of a meeting called by the foreign minister wherein this point was made that it was a non-military pre-emptive strike against Jaishe-Muhammed assets in Pakistan based on the intelligence assessment that we were vulnerable to another strike by the terrorist outfit. So I have no reason to doubt that.

