Omar won’t quit, whatever J&K’s status: LoP

Says NC prioritises power, protocol

Srinagar, May 31: Ahead of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s meeting with National Conference legislators on June 3, Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Sunil Sharma on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the ruling party, alleging deep internal divisions and claiming the Chief Minister would never resign from office as long as his protocol and privileges remain intact.
Addressing reporters, Sharma said the Omar Abdullah-led government was facing serious internal discord and alleged that the upcoming meeting had been convened to contain differences within the party and prevent them from spilling into the public domain.

“I am not saying the party will break, but it is almost broken. The June 3 meeting is an attempt to save a sinking ship,” Sharma said.
In a personal attack on the Chief Minister, Sharma described Omar Abdullah as a “Tourist-in-Chief” and alleged that he had remained out of public view for nearly two weeks.
Claiming that the Abdullah family would go to any extent to retain political power, Sharma said Omar Abdullah would not resign under any circumstances, even if Jammu and Kashmir were assigned a status lower than that of a Union Territory.
“Remember my prediction: no one, even from the next generations of the Abdullah family, would resign. If Jammu and Kashmir were reduced to a Hill Council on the pattern of Ladakh and Omar became an executive councillor, he still would not resign from that position,” Sharma said.
He alleged that the National Conference was willing to accept any constitutional arrangement for Jammu and Kashmir as long as there was no reduction in its political authority and protocol.
“They are ready to settle for a position even lower than UT status, provided there is no reduction in their cavalcade or protocol,” he claimed.
The BJP leader further accused the NC and PDP of running a “so-called movement” to keep “incompetent princes and princesses of two families” in power and alleged that they had “bled Jammu and Kashmir” to protect their political interests.
“There is no question of resignation from a family that is so power-hungry. They got 50,000 Kashmiris killed for their chair,” Sharma alleged.
His remarks marked a fresh escalation in the political confrontation between the opposition BJP and the ruling National Conference, with Sharma questioning the government’s stability and predicting that signs of internal instability would become visible in the coming days.