Goons get red-carpet, gentlemen shown door in BJP: Omar

JAMMU: By denying ticket to veteran leader Jaswant Singh and inducting Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik in the party, BJP is showing doors to its senior leaders but offering red-carpet to "goons", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said.

"So, gentlemen like #JaswantSingh will be shown the door & goons like #Muthalik will receive the red carpet," Omar wrote on twitter.

Muthalik, the controversial chief of Sri Rama Sene linked with the attack on women at a pub in Mangalore in 2009, had joined BJP in Karnataka yesterday, but facing flak from within and also from opposition, the party dumped him hours after inducting him.

A sulking Singh, after denial of ticket from Barmer Lok Sabha seat, today filed his nomination papers as an Independent.

Omar had yesterday hit out at BJP, saying there was more democracy in "family-run" parties like his National Conference than in "parties with a difference".

"I dare say there is more democracy in so-called 'family run' parties like JKNC than in 'parties with a difference'," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.

Omar was apparently referring to discord within BJP over denial of ticket to Singh and some other controversies surrounding the opposition party at the Centre.