Farooq Abdullah, the newly-elected leader of the National Conference, stated on Monday that the party must run in all future elections in Jammu and Kashmir and that skipping the panchayat elections in 2018 was ‘a huge mistake.’
Abdullah also issued a warning to the security forces and the government not to meddle in any election processes. At a recent party meeting, the former Union minister stated that he wanted to leave the position due to his health.
Although he wanted to step aside and let the younger leadership run the party after his re-election, he claimed that he was persuaded to stay because ‘we are passing through a very difficult phase.’
‘I want to tell the party that boycotting the panchayat elections (in 2018) was a huge mistake. Remember this, we will not boycott any coming election. Instead (we will) contest and win them,’ Speaking to the party’s delegates after being unanimously re-elected as the National Conference (NC) president, Abdullah said.
The elder Abdullah said, ‘As party president, I am telling you (Omar Abdullah) that you have to contest the election.’ He was referring to his son Omar Abdullah’s declaration that he would not run for office as long as Jammu and Kashmir remained a Union Territory.
He continued, ‘Because if we have to fight them, then we all have to enter the fray and run for office.’ The BJP ‘will do anything, even try to buy your loyalty, but God will fail all their designs,’ the former Union minister claimed.
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