"People Have Spoken, Pay Heed": Omar Abdullah To BJP After Local Polls

The leaders of Farooq Abdullah-led People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration have hailed the people's verdict in the local elections, saying they have given their opinion on the Centre's move to scrap its special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories. The seven-party amalgam that was formed to help restore special status of Jammu and Kashmir won nine of 20 districts in the union territory. 

The Gupkar Alliance has won more than 100 seats; the BJP has emerged as the single largest party as it won 74 seats. The Congress has won 27 seats.

In Jammu province, the BJP won 71 seats, while the Gupkar Alliance won 35. The Congress managed to win 17 seats. In Kashmir, the Farooq Abdullah-led alliance got 72 seats, the BJP won 3, and the Congress got 10.

On Tuesday, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted to say that the BJP "had made this election a prestige issue about Art 370 & J&K's special status. The people have now spoken & it's for those who believe in democracy to pay heed to these voices".

All of us in the @JKPAGD are deeply indebted & grateful to the people of J&K for your support at this critical juncture. We reaffirm our commitment to use all democratic & legal weapons at our disposal to continue to fight for our rights.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 22, 2020

In another tweet, he recalled the long road travelled by the political leaders of Gupkar Alliance over the last two years.

The @JKPAGD is an alliance that emerged out of the betrayal of the people of J&K on 5th Aug 2019. We have faced every obstacle - illegal detentions, agency threats & pressures, our candidates were locked up to stop them campaigning & from all this we are emerging victorious.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 22, 2020

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said the results have made it clear that the people have voted for the Gupkar alliance and rejected the Centre's "unconstitutional" decision to abrogate Article 370.

Calling the victory "hard earned," Ms Mufti tweeted: "I was illegally detained thrice over the course of a fortnight. PAGD candidates were locked up in a government building while others barred from canvassing. Despite all these obstacles PAGD emerged as winner."

Mr Abdullah played down the toehold gained the BJP in the Valley, pointing to the gains of the People's Alliance in Jammu, known to be a bastion of the BJP.  

I understand the temptation to over play the 3 seats the BJP has won in the valley but why underplay the 35 wins/leads of the @JKPAGD in Jammu province. We aren't Kashmir based parties, we are political parties with strong support in both Kashmir AND Jammu.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 22, 2020

The BJP has attributed its gains in Kashmir Valley to the policies of the Narendra Modi government. Aijaz Hussain, who won the Khonmoh-II District Development Council seat in Srinagar, said the results show that a "propaganda has been bust".  

The people, he said, have shown their faith in the prime minister and his policies and this "is a message that nationalists are prospering in Kashmir".

Voting was held in 280 seats - 14 in each of the 20 districts of the union territory -- in eight phases over a period of 25 days. The eight-phase election – the first to be held in the Union Territory after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir last year and the subsequent detention of political leaders – was a bitter contest between the BJP and the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration.    

The BJP has dubbed the People's Alliance the "Gupkar gang" – accusing them of being anti-national, especially after Farooq Abdullah's speech in parliament in September advocating talks with Pakistan.  

The coalition has been accused of "going global" by getting "foreign forces to intervene" in the issue of scrapping of Article 370, taking away the rights of women and Dalits and bringing back "terror and turmoil" in the Union Territory.