lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 18, 2019 13:50 IST

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kick-starting the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu, the party chief said he will represent Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.

“I will not become the chief minister. Omar will fight for chief ministership.The chief minister will be Omar Abdullah as he is young. I am old and I cannot match the energy of young people, but he can. I will go to Parliament and I have full faith that I will be there,” Abdullah said addressing public rally in support of BR Kundal who is party candidate from Jammu-Poonch parliamentary constituency, at Bahu Fort here.

Accusing BJP of dividing people and spreading hatred in the country, he said, “Desh khatre mein nehi, Modi ji khatre mein hai. It is unfortunate that the BJP is diving people on cast and religious lines.”

The former chief minister asked people to support those candidates who could run the country based on the principle of equality. He also countered allegations that the National Conference discriminated against Jammu and Ladakh.

Slamming the BJP and the RSS for accusing him of being a Pakistani, he said recently his party worker was killed because he was holding the tricolour.

“I want to tell BJP and RSS that few days back the terrorists killed a poor worker of National Conference. His(poor) only fault was that he was holding the tri colour,” he said.

“In 1996, I contested elections at the height of the militancy in the state, when no one was ready to join the democratic process,” the NC leader added.

Continuing his tirade against the BJP-led NDA, he claimed that when CRPF personnel were killed in Chhattisgarh, no one from the BJP visited them to offer floral tributes.