Omar Abdullah claims Delhi is trying to muzzle his voice

SRINAGAR — National Conference (NC) Vice President, Omar Abdullah on Friday said he played a game with New Delhi by choosing Budgam constituency instead of Beerwah, saying that the people in Delhi are after him like anything and they are trying to muzzle his voice.

Omar, while addressing a gathering in Ganderbal, said that during the Lok Sabha elections, a leader, who was behind bars, fought elections against him in Baramulla and emerged victorious. “I took it moderately as he had already fought elections and I thought it was my bad luck only,” Omar, as per the news agency KNO, said.

However, he said that as he decided to contest in the Assembly elections from Ganderbal, now a man, whose nomination was rejected in Shopian earlier, opted to choose the particular seat only, which created doubts.

“I along with my colleagues decided to contest from another seat to expose the tactics behind, but kept it secret. As soon as the man behind the bars filed his nomination papers from Ganderbal, he was forced to run towards Beerwah to file nomination papers from there as well, but it went wrong as we had prepared for Budgam seat,” he said, adding that the people from jails are being brought to contest against him.

“The people and agencies in Delhi got the wrong idea as they opted for Beerwah constituency where I have already fought the elections before but I filed my papers from Budgam,” he said, adding that it indicates that in J&K, especially in Kashmir, Delhi is after him like anything and is not trying to muzzle him for speaking about the rights and dignity of people.

“When I remove the cap from my head, it means that my honour is yours and your honour is mine,” Omar told the gathering in Ganderbal.

However, Omar said, “I am satisfied by catching the tactics of agencies. There might be agencies in Delhi, but we too have minds and we too can catch them.”

He further said that it is the people who will have to decide whether they want to be their MLA. Omar assured people that he would serve them like the family has served them so far.

Meanwhile, while talking to reporters, Omar said that these elections are important and significant for them as the polls are being conducted after a gap of 10 years, six years of Central rule and the Central government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.

Pertinently, Omar is contesting from two seats including Ganderbal and Budgam in central Kashmir, both of which are slated to go to polls in the second phase of Assembly elections.