The Hindu : National / Elections 2004 : Q&A: Omar Abdullah

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Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Q&A: Omar Abdullah

'We can never ally with the BJP'

The National Conference president, Omar Abdullah, is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar constituency. For him it is a question of political survival, as he lost the Assembly elections from Ganderbal in 2002. He has represented Srinagar in the Lok Sabha twice; and the seat has traditionally been with the Abdullah family. He spoke to Shujaat Bukhari before leaving for Jammu to campaign for his party candidates. Excerpts:

How different is this election for you?

Obviously the significant difference is that we are fighting this election as an Opposition party. It is perhaps a little difficult. We see things a little differently. We want to see how the people will react.

You lost the Assembly elections and now you have again decided to test the waters.

Ganderbal is only one segment of the 15 that make up the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency. I personally believe that there has been a sea change in the public mood in Ganderbal itself and [that] all these things will reflect in the voting trends in the Lok Sabha elections. I am the president of [the] party and cannot be afraid of losing elections.

You have said that New Delhi is not talking much about the fairness of elections.

That is very true. And that is a concern. In 2002 the Prime Minister [Atal Bihari Vajpayee] would use every platform to talk about the fairness of elections. And yet we find the same is not true now. Not a single word has been expressed by New Delhi about holding free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The official machinery is being used. We are waiting for [the] Election Commission to come and will give all [the] details.

In 1996 you fought the elections on the autonomy issue; in 2002 it was governance. What about this time?

We put the autonomy issue forward in 1996 because we thought it would be a kind of political solution to the problem. It was not an issue in 2002 because we were pushed to the backfoot and it is also true that we could not push the issue as hard as possible. But the fact is that [the] NC is the only party which has some solution to [the] problem. We want to remind [the] people again of this solution. The Hurriyat has no solution, [the] Mufti has no solution. They only talk about releasing prisoners. If others have a better roadmap they should come forward.

How do you see the call for a boycott of the elections?

If the people are actively encouraged to boycott it will have an impact. The other view is that the Abbas Ansari-led Hurriyat may not go for it but will remain away from the elections.

Who is going to benefit from the boycott?

Whether a party benefits or not, the State loses. There was a feeling that we won in 1996 because of the boycott but we won 5 seats in Srinagar in 2002.

Why does your party have no tie-ups in the election?

The Congress has tied up with the PDP. There are some parties at the regional level but are unreliable. We can never have an alliance with [the] BJP. A tie-up was possible with the BSP but there were some problems.

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