Damp Squib : Omar Abdullah Slams Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Rally Speech ; Says Nothing New, No Mention Of Elections, Statehood

File Picture

National Conference (NC) vice president and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said there was nothing new in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at a rally on March 7 , and the hopes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir were dashed. “I did not see anything new in the speech. He (Modi) talked about the same things that he has been (talking about). He did not mention anything which the people wanted to hear — about the restoration of democracy,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a party function.

The former J-K chief minister said that while the prime minister himself cannot announce the elections, PM Modi should at least have said about conducting the assembly elections before the Supreme Court’s September 31 deadline.

“He should have said there would be polls before that (deadline), he should have said something about the restoration of the full statehood, announced an employment package for the unemployed youth, something for the regularisation of the daily-wage workers, about the electricity crisis,” the NC leader added. “We were hoping Modi will speak about these, but our hopes were dashed,” he said.