’Omar Abdullah was desperate to form govt in 2014, met Amit Shah’: Ex-aide on ‘NC repeatedly approached BJP’ claim

Jammu and Kashmir Politics: BJP leader Devender Singh Rana, on Saturday, reiterated his claim that National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah ‘met BJP leader Amit Shah and Ram Madhav in 2014’. Defending his statement Rana said, "It is true that National Conference wanted to form a government with the BJP in 2014. It is also true that he met Amit Shah and Ram Madhav. If he thinks that this is a lie, he should deny it. If he denies it, I will speak to you with facts..."

Early in September, Rana had claimed that he accompanied Omar Abdullah to talks with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in Delhi, in the year 2014. Rana, a former close aide of Abdullah, said NC reiterated its offer of offering full support to a BJP-PDP alliance CM candidate in Jammu and Kashmir, following the death of PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2016.

On Saturday, Rana said, “He (Omar Abdullah) too knows that in 2014, he met Amit Shah and Ram Madhav and he was interested in forming the government.”

Adhering to the perpetuated authenticity of his claims, BJP leader Rana said, “I have worked with Omar Abdullah very closely. I neither lied about him earlier nor am I lying now.”

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In 2014, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election threw up a hung verdict. Rana claimed that Omar Abdullah had offered unconditional support to the BJP at the behest of NC chief Farooq Abdullah after the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls threw up a hung verdict.

Earlier, the BJP leader had said, “The reality is completely different. Now, you (Omar) claim that (BJP J&K election in-charge) Ram Madhav is close to the PDP. But the truth is you repeatedly approached the BJP and RSS for government formation after the 2014 polls.”

Following the 2014 Assembly poll results, the BJP had joined hands with the PDP to form a government led by Sayeed. The saffron party walked out of the coalition in 2018 over differences with Mehbooba Mufti, who took over as CM after Sayeed’s death.

Rana, the BJP candidate for the Nagrota Assembly seat, highlighted that Omar had previously served in the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999.

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Omar Abdullah had earlier reacted to BJP Candidate Davinder Rana's statement, and said, “If he wants to call us soft separatists, that's fine. But then he should tell us about the 4,500+ National Conference workers, leaders, MLAs, and MLCs who have sacrificed over the last 30-35 years.”

"Why did they do that? If we are running a pro-Pakistan agenda here, if we are promoting militancy and weakening the country, then whose hands are responsible for those 4,500 lives lost? There is a clear difference between what Rana sahib says and the ground realities..."Andullah added.