I dare you to prove if NC boycotted ULB polls at Pakistan's behest: Omar Abdullah to BJP's Ram Madhav

Omar Abdullah today dared BJP's Ram Madhav to prove his allegations that National Conference (NC) boycotted the local polls in Jammu and Kashmir at the behest of Pakistan.

His comments came hours after Ram Madhav told ANI that the "PDP and NC boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border".

"Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together & form govt. What they did prompted Guv (Governor) to look into the whole issue," Madhav told ANI. Madhav was reacting on the dissolution of the J&K assembly by the state governor.




Reacting to Madhav's statement, Omar tweeted: "No, misplaced attempts at humour won’t work. You HAVE claimed my party has been acting at the behest of Pakistan. I dare you to prove it! Place the evidence of your allegation of NC boycott of ULB polls at Pak behest in public domain. It’s an open challenge to you & your Govt (sic)."

Soon after, however, Ram Madhav in a conciliatory note said that he was not questioning Abdullah's patriotism.

"Just take it in your stride @OmarAbdullah Not questioning your patriotism at all. But d sudden love between NC n PDP n d hurry to form government leads to many suspicions n political comments. Not to offend u (sic)."


The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was abruptly dissolved by the Governor Wednesday night hours after the PDP staked claim to form a government with the backing of rival National Conference and the Congress, followed by another bid from the two-member People's Conference which claimed the support of the BJP and 18 legislators from other parties.

The Governor cited four main reasons for dissolving the Assembly with immediate effect, including "extensive horse-trading and possible exchange of money" and the "impossibility" of forming a stable government by parties with "opposing political ideologies".

The dissolution of the assembly, which was in suspended animation since June 19, marked the culmination of a day-long high-voltage political drama in which Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti wrote to governor that her party, which has 29 MLAs, backed by the National Conference and the Congress with 15 and 12 legislators respectively intended to stake claim for formation of the government.

The collective strength of the three parties was 56, well above the required number of 44 for a majority in the 87-member assembly, Mehbooba, a former chief minister, said.

Things moved swiftly thereafter with Sajad Lone, leader of the People's Conference, which has one MLA besides him, also sending a WhatsApp communication to Malik from midair staking his claim for government formation with the support of the 25-member BJP and "more than 18 other elected members" whose names he did not provide.

The Governor, who had declared days ago that the assembly would not be dissolved, then lost no time in going for dissolution invoking the relevant sections of the state constitution.

The dissolution paves the way for a fresh elections in the state amid speculation that it could be held with the Lok Sabha polls due early next year.