In a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC), senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devender Singh Rana claimed on Tuesday that NC vice president Omar Abdullah had offered unconditional support to the BJP in 2014 for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir. Rana, who once was a close confidant of Omar Abdullah, stated that the NC was desperate to have an alliance with the BJP in 2014, but the BJP rejected all of Omar’s offers.
Rana said that in 2014, when the NC had 15 MLAs, Omar Abdullah met with senior BJP and RSS leaders in Delhi, including Home Minister Amit Shah and the then J&K in-charge Ram Madhav, and offered unconditional support to the BJP for forming the government in J&K. Rana claimed he accompanied Omar during these meetings.
“Omar not only had offered unconditional support but also agreed for a full term BJP Chief Minister then,” Rana stated. He further said that even after the BJP’s rejection, Omar repeatedly approached the BJP top leadership and the RSS for government formation in J&K.
Rana also claimed that after the death of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Omar Abdullah again started approaching top BJP and RSS leaders in Delhi, offering unconditional support to the BJP for government formation in J&K and agreeing for a full term BJP Chief Minister.
The BJP leader accused the NC of trying to build a narrative by saying it has nothing to do with the BJP, stating that the party is trying to mislead the people of Kashmir. Rana challenged the NC, saying that as long as the BJP is there, it will never allow the party to scrap reservation for the deprived and under-privileged sections of J&K.