Jammu and Kashmir: Reacting to National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah's party decision to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections alone, BJP leader Devender Singh Rana said that the National Conference leadership has been keen to tie up with the BJP.
While speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said, "Dr Farooq Abdullah's statement has not surprised me at all because, right from 2014 after the assembly elections, the National Conference leadership has always been keen to tie up with the BJP and have an alliance with the BJP, and the BJP has repeatedly not accepted that offer."
"In 2014, Omar Abdullah made a request to the BJP to form a government with the BJP, which was rejected by the party. Then again in 2017, when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away and there was a gap, Farooq Abdullah is on record having said in Katra that they are ready to form a government with the BJP. At that point in time, the BJP also rejected it," he said.
The BJP leader said, "I'm telling you this with a lot of confidence that repeated attempts were made because I was part of the system of the National Conference. Attempts were made even after the abrogation of Article 370 to have some kind of strategic alliance or understanding with the BJP."
This comes after National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that his party will contest the upcoming parliamentary elections alone, a decision that is seen as another setback for the opposition INDIA bloc.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar on seat sharing, the National Conference chief said, "As far as seat sharing is concerned, NC will contest alone and there's no doubt about it."
On being asked about the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the three-time former chief minister said, "I think that elections in both states will be held with the parliamentary elections."
Incidentally, several prominent leaders of the National Conference, including Kathua district president Sanjeev Khajuria, had joined the BJP. Many supporters and district officeholders also made the switch from the National Conference to the BJP last month.
Mr Abdullah was recently summoned by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) for questioning in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association money laundering case.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was earlier summoned for questioning on January 11 but did not appear before the central agency. In July 2022, the ED filed a supplementary charge sheet against Mr Abdullah in the case.
Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc suffered a huge setback earlier in January this year after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) vowed to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone in West Bengal.
Recently, the Rashtriya Lok Dal in UP also walked out of the alliance and partnered with the NDA.
Later in January, one of the key architects of the INDIA bloc, Janata Dal (Secular) chief Nitish Kumar, pulled out of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar and re-aligned with the BJP-led NDA.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)