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However, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee hoped that the party would remain in the alliance.
Asserting that he would not take 'rubbish' from anybody, Abdullah told reporters in Jammu that he had no right to be in NDA after Vajpayee's Independence Day remarks promising 'free and fair elections' in J&K in future and subsequent comments by Home Minister L K Advani that doubts had been cast about the fairness of the past elections in the state except of those held when Morarji Desai was prime minister.
Reacting to Abdullah's threat, Vajpayee told reporters in Lucknow that he would try to remove any misunderstanding Abdullah may have had on the issue of fairness of elections in the state.
"People of the region had expressed their doubts about the fairness of the assembly polls, barring the 1977 elections. But since the Election Commission has approved of the results, they are obviously valid," Vajpayee said.
Stating that it was up to NC to decide whether it wanted to remain in NDA, the prime minister said, "We will, however, like the National Conference to remain part of the NDA government at the Centre."
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