'The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.'
Former Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah chief minister rushed to file his nomination from Budgam at the last moment.
The National Conference vice president had already filed his nomination from Ganderbal which political observers felt was risky for him and Budgam would be a safer bet.
In Budgam, Omar faces People's Democratic Party candidate Aga Syed Muntazir as his closest rival.
Muntazir tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com why Abdullah is on a weak wicket in Budgam.
Omar Abdullah decided to contest from Budgam at the last moment. Were you taken aback by this decision?
I was not taken aback because Omar Abdullah is not a politician. He represents a cartel of elitism in Kashmir.
He has been running from one constituency to another constituency and betraying the people in his political career.
Budgam is the fourth constituency in Omar's political life where he has come to take refuge.
All his political life he has taken refuge from one constituency to another in Kashmir.
Don't you feel at a disadvantage considering that people may vote for a chief ministerial candidate rather than you?
I don't think so.
In the history of Budgam for the first time the people have shown political maturity.
The type of support and the type of love and trust I am getting from the people of Budgam is huge.
I am a local here unlike Omar. I have an Aadhar card and passport from Budgam.
Omar Abdullah is seen as a tourist in Budgam.
He is so confident that he did not even come once to campaign after filing the nomination. It is only on Tuesday that he came to campaign, when the election was just a week away.
He has no connect whatsoever with Budgam constituency and therefore he did not come.
As I told you, Omar represents a cartel of the elite and he has no connection with his own workers or the people of Kashmir.
But Budgam has been represented by the National Conference since 1977, so don't you think you are on a weak wicket?
You will see the results and get the answer.
Budgam voters are mature enough to know who is good for them and who is not.
But in Kashmir people blame your party chief Mehbooba Mufti for shaking hands with the BJP.
I don't want to go into the past because I was not associated with the PDP then.
Kashmiri people believe in certain grievances and the PDP came outright about this issue in our 2024 assembly manifesto.
We wrote that what happened on August 5, 2019 added to instability in Kashmir.
But the root cause is something else, which is the Kashmir issue. It is still alive and relevant as it was on August 4, 2019, a day before Article 370 was abrogated.
Delhi has delegitimised the Kashmir issue and the PDP has shown the courage to speak about it.
On the other hand, the NC made some rhetoric that we want to have some dialogue between India and Pakistan.
NC had no guts or courage to say on what subject or matter they want to have a dialogue between India and Pakistan.
But Kashmiris blame the PDP for bringing in the abrogation of Article 370.
It will be unfair to say so. The erosion to Article 370 came during NC and Congress party rule. Only the left out skull of Article 370 the BJP abrogated.
The reality is that the Congress and NC brought a number of changes in Article 370 from 1947.
Are you blaming the three generations of the Abdullah family for bringing Kashmir to what it is today?
The Abdullah family saw the benefit of an election boycott.
There was no trust in the electoral process of Indian democracy in Kashmir.
Everybody knows in Kashmir how the mandate was stolen by the NC in 1987. Therefore, a majority of Kashmiris used to stay away from electoral politics.
This gave benefit to the NC to come to power. It came through the short cut way as popular support among the people used to stay away from electoral politics.
The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.
What is the development work you feel that Budgam needed and was not given?
Budgam constituency has been otherised by the NC.
In the last four years we have seen only 50 percent literacy rate in Budgam. It is such a sad state of affairs.
This is an agricultural district and there has been a decline in agricultural production by 5 percent consecutively every year.
Health infrastructure has collapsed.
We only have one government hospital with 100 beds for the entire district.
Any problem and the patients of Budgam have to rush to Srinagar.
Every walk of life is underdeveloped.
NC used Budgam as the ATM card. Therefore, the people of Budgam will show them the door.
It is said Omar Abdullah will win on Shia votes which number around 40,000 in Budgam. Your cousin Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, a Shia like you and an NC MP, will be instrumental in getting Shia votes to Omar en bloc.
NC plays communal politics. They do Shia-Sunni, but from our side every community has supported us. Be it Sikhs, Kashmiri Pandits, Sunnis and Shias.
Don't you feel you are taking Omar Abdullah too lightly?
No. Omar Abdullah is an alien in Budgam.
Kashmiris do connect with Dr Farooq Abdullah as he is seen as someone who can do mimicry.
On the other hand, Omar Abdullah cannot even speak Kashmiri properly.
Omar Abdullah cannot pronounce proper Kashmiri words.
In Kashmiri cap is known as topi and Omar pronounced it as tube in Kashmiri which means car tyre. He said this in Ganderbal.
Even Omar's sons, who are fourth generation Abdullahs, caused embarrassment to the National Congress when they went out to campaign. They were told to stay at home due to that.
This is because Omar and his children have no connect with Kashmiris.
Omar and his sons are seen as parachute landers in Kashmir. They have been imposed on us.
Every Kashmiri knows Abdullahs are part of the problem in Kashmir.
