J&K CM Omar Abdullah Claims Rajya Sabha Elections Will Reveal Real BJP Supporters Among Political Parties

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the results of the upcoming elections to four Rajya Sabha seats in the Union Territory will reveal which parties support or oppose the BJP.

Biennial elections to fill the seats, lying vacant since 2021, will be held on October 24.

"This election will reveal who is a supporter of the BJP and who is an opponent of the BJP. Not a single party has shown support to the BJP over the last one year, and on its own, it cannot win even one seat," Abdullah told reporters here.

The chief minister said if the BJP manages to win any of the seats, it would be due to "money power, muscle power and power of the agencies".

Abdullah said his National Conference would also field a candidate for the fourth seat.

"We had named three candidates and felt that Congress had the best chance on the fourth seat, but they felt otherwise," he said.

Responding to a query, the chief minister said there was no question of sidelining party president Farooq Abdullah.

"He is an asset and the tallest leader of Jammu and Kashmir... He is one of the most respected leaders of the country. Who would dare to refuse Farooq Sahib if he wanted to contest Rajya Sabha polls?" he said.

The chief minister also ruled out the NC president contesting the Budgam assembly by-election, saying, "a person who decided not to contest Rajya Sabha would not put himself through the rigours of an assembly election campaign".

On the candidates for the Budgam and Nagrota bypolls, the chief minister said these will be named in due course.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)