Srinagar: Dithering from his earlier stand of not contesting assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Friday hinted about entering the fray.
"I don't want to contest elections, but the fact is I have a lot of pressure from within the party to contest elections. So, I will sit with my party colleagues to discuss it with them and come to a final decision in the coming days," Omar said in Srinagar Friday.
"My other big problem is that my father is aged and his health is also fragile. He has said that if I am not contesting the elections, then he (Farooq Abdullah) will be compelled to contest. This is another challenge for me. So I will consult my colleagues and Farooq Sahab, I will come to a certain conclusion," Omar said.
Following the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading of the state into two union territories, Omar has said he felt betrayed and earlier decided never to contest assembly elections. Omar Abdullah had told ETV Bharat in an interview in December 2020 that he would not contest the assembly elections because he felt betrayed.
"I have no intention to contest assembly elections. It is possible that I will never contest assembly elections because I felt betrayed. I don't link it with snatching of statehood or abrogation of article 370 but with the betrayal I felt," Omar had told this reporter in the interview held at his residence in Srinagar.
Recently, when the BJP government gave all sweeping executive powers to the lieutenant governor, Omar had told a national daily that he would not contest assembly elections and become a chief minister where he would have to sit outside the office of the LG to sign a file.
About the pre-poll alliance with Congress, Omar said that time is too short for discussing alliances but they have an "understanding" with the Congress. "Some senior leaders of Congress from New Delhi and I had a round of discussion with them about the pre-poll alliance. Unfortunately, they had come here without any instructions from their high command. Thus, we could not carry forward that dialogue," he said.
"If Congress has any concrete idea or suggestions, we can reach an understanding with them. Two days before Farooq Sahab had a telephonic conversation with some Congress leaders to open a way for dialogue. Elections are very close, not much time is left for us. So let's see what we can do."
On alliance with PDP, Omar said it would be difficult to have any alliance with them as we contested parliament elections against each other and they "scolded us" in the election campaign. "Instead of mending ties with us, they created further differences. But we don't have much time for it now. Let's see what happens," he said.
Congress and NC contested parliament elections in the alliance. While NC contested three seats of Kashmir, Congress contested in Jammu and Udhampur. PDP which was a part of the INDIA Alliance but was not accommodated and the party fielded candidates on three seats of Kashmir against the National Conference.
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