Ram Madhav rubbishes Omar Abdullah's horse trading claim

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday asked former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister why he was afraid about the BJP trying to form a government in the state through horse trading and petty politics.

Refuting Omar's allegation, Madhav told ANI, "Why is he (Omar Abdullah) so scared? I'm sure his party men are loyal to him. There is no question of horse-trading from our side. We've seen what kind of horse-trading happened in Jammu and Kashmir under his party (Jammu and Kashmir National Conference), nobody should forget the history. He (Omar) should think of his own party and numbers."

Omar today called for a dissolution of the state assembly and holding of fresh elections to prevent the BJP from resorting to horse trading to form the next government in the state.
His response came after former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta said the BJP was "working on something" in connection with the ongoing political scenario in the state.

"I don't think a new government will be formed anytime soon. Uncertainties are there, but we are working on something and people will get to know about it," he told reporters in Jammu.

In response to Congress's allegations that the BJP destroyed the state "economically, socially and politically", Madhav called the grand old party "one culprit for an utter deterioration of Jammu and Kashmir."

Launching a scathing attack on Congress, Madhav said, "Right from the beginning, whether it was secessionism, separatism, alienation and terrorism. Even, Pakistan-sponsored separatism and terrorist elements in Kashmir Valley. All these root causes are due to the wrong policies of the Congress. We tried to clean the mess created by Congress and its alliance partners in the past."

Earlier, Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the BJP and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) of forming an "unethical alliance" and betraying the people of the state.

"Three-and-a-half years ago on March 15, there was an unethical alliance formed between BJP and PDP. During the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2014, BJP abused PDP while doing publicity for itself. And in the Valley, PDP with same intensity accused BJP. However, the two enemies ironically joined hands after the elections," Azad told media in Delhi.

"While PDP betrayed the people of Kashmir, BJP, on the other hand, betrayed Jammu locals. Most of the recruitments happened during BJP rule. Earlier terrorists from Jammu and Kashmir were not much educated. However, now for the first time doctors, engineers, MA, Post Graduate and even PhD holders have left their jobs and taken training under different terrorist organisations. They have destroyed Jammu and Kashmir economically, socially and politically. Now there is only five percent tourism left in the Valley," he added.
Asked on senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's comment on Hindu terrorism, Madhav quipped, "I don't give importance to his statement."

Singh had raked up a controversy by saying that all Hindu-religion terrorists who had been caught in the past were connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in some way.
He later clarified that he has always used the term "Sanghi terrorism" and never "Hindu terrorism."

(ANI)