Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday strongly denied the BJP’s allegations that he sought an alliance with the ruling party at the Centre in 2024 in exchange for the restoration of statehood.
“I swear on the Holy Quran that I did not seek an alliance with the BJP in 2024 — neither for statehood nor for any other reason. Unlike Sunil Sharma, I don’t make a living by lying,” Abdullah said in a post on X.
The statement came in response to remarks by Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma, who claimed that Abdullah had approached the BJP leadership in Delhi, expressing willingness to partner with them if statehood was restored.
Sharma further alleged that Abdullah had made similar overtures to the BJP in 2014, following a hung verdict in the Assembly elections. “In 2024, he again went to Delhi offering to form the government with the BJP in return for statehood. His offer was rejected. We told him we’ve been given a mandate to sit in the opposition,” Sharma told reporters after an election rally in Budgam.
He challenged Abdullah to take an oath in a mosque, swearing on the Holy Quran that he never approached the BJP for government formation. “He won’t do it. But we are ready to swear wherever he wants,” Sharma said.
Abdullah, meanwhile, has intensified his criticism of the ruling party, asserting that it is only his National Conference (NC) that is truly standing up to the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier in the day, addressing a campaign rally in Budgam in support of BJP candidate Syed Mohsin, Sharma had called on Abdullah to publicly clarify that there were no “backdoor dealings” with Delhi.
He reiterated that after the 2014 Assembly polls, Abdullah had attempted to form a coalition with the BJP, but “our leadership, guided by principles and national integrity, rejected his opportunistic proposal.”
Accusing the NC of “deceit and double standards,” Sharma said the party was trying hard to block the BJP’s growing influence in Kashmir. “The people have now seen through their politics of hypocrisy,” he added.
