Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) : As the voting begins for the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday appealed to the people of Baramulla to come out and cast their votes.
It is the first Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Speaking to News Agency , Abdullah said, “I hope that people will use their votes. The biggest power in a democracy is the people’s voice and the people’s votes. I appeal to the people of Baramulla to come out and cast their votes.”
When asked about a former panchayat official who was shot dead by terrorists in South Kashmir’s Shopian and a tourist couple from Rajasthan who were injured in a separate terror strike in Anantnag, the NC leader said that one should always refrain from claiming that there is normalcy in the area.
“I have always been saying that making claims like a huge number of tourists are coming and there is normalcy is not good. By doing so, we are putting tourists’ lives in danger. If protection cannot be provided to the tourists, we should refrain from making such claims,” he said.
Countering the Centre’s claim of peace after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and kashmir, Abdullah said, “The Centre claims many things but if one of their claims had been right, they would have contested their candidates from Baramulla. They would not have needed the support of their B and C teams to defeat NC.”
Omar Abdullah is in the fray from Baramulla against Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) chief Sajad Lone and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Mir Mohammad Fayaz. Jailed independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh is also in the fray.
Notably, the BJP is not contesting from any of Jammu and Kashmir’s three Lok Sabha seats–Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag.
The electoral battle remained between two major regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The results of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4