Omar Abdullah Rules Out Alliance with BJP, Calls 2015 Tie-Up a “Mistake” Jammu and Kashmir Still Suffers From

By A Staff Reporter

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has categorically ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling the idea “out of the question.” He said that the 2015 coalition between the BJP and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) caused deep political and social disruptions, the effects of which are still visible in the region.

“The BJP, in its manifesto or in its promises to Parliament and to the Supreme Court, never said that statehood is dependent on the BJP coming to power in Jammu and Kashmir. If that is the case, then I think the BJP should be honest,” Abdullah said, taking aim at the party’s stance on restoring statehood.

He added that his party would not repeat the errors of the past. “Tying up with the BJP or an alliance with the BJP is out of the question. We’ve already seen how much that has destroyed Jammu and Kashmir. An unnecessary alliance between the PDP and the BJP was born in 2015. We are still suffering the aftereffects of that. I have no intention of repeating mistakes that other people have made,” Abdullah asserted.