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Campaign for second phase of polls hotting up

By Our Staff Reporter

Jammu Sept. 19. As the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is nearing, the campaign by political parties has turned into a blame-game, with even senior leaders indulging in personal attacks against their rivals.

Addressing a series of meetings in the border belt of Jammu today, the ruling National Conference president and Chief Ministerial candidate, Omar Abdullah, targeted the congress and its leaders for his attacks. Calling the PCC president, Ghulam Nabi Azad, an "opportunist", he said, Mr. Azad was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the NC's support and should, therefore, resign his seat before attacking the ruling party.

For the Congress camp, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh and his Chattisgarh counterpart, Ajit Jogi, are leading the attack on the NC and the Abdullah "dynasty". Mr. Singh accused the NC of entering into opportunistic alliances on several occasions for the sake of power and said it had no consistent ideology. Similarly, the campaign during the last few days has exposed the differences between the NC and the BJP, who are partners in the ruling NDA at the Centre. Both the parties have been hurling accusations against each other.

Omar Abdullah accused senior BJP leaders of adopting double standards. "On the one hand, the party opposes trifurcation of the State, but on the other, it has forged alliance with the RSS- sponsored Jammu State Morcha, which has been formed exclusively for the purpose of trifurcation," he said. The BJP leader and Union Minister, Sushma Swaraj, who campaigned for the party, described the NC regime in the State as one of the "worst ever corrupt dispensation". She also accused the NC of mismanagement of Central funds allocated to the State.

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• Campaign for second phase of polls hotting up
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