Omar Abdullah said he was talking about principles rather than partisan loyalty
New Delhi:
At a time when the Congress and its allies have raised questions over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and demanded a return to voting rights, the National Conference, a member of the INDIA alliance, has said there should be “consistent” in questioning the voting method.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also vice-president of Congress ally National Conference, told news agency PTI in an interview that it is wrong to question EVMs only when results do not meet expectations.
“If you get over a hundred MPs using the same EVMs, and you celebrate that as some kind of victory for your party, you can't turn around a few months later and say… we don't like this. EVMs because the election results are now not going the way we would like,” Abdullah said. When told that his comments reflected the BJP's counter to the Congress's EVM charge, Mr Abdullah said: “God forbid… No, it's just that… what's good is good. “
“If you have problems with the EVMs, then you have to be consistent on those problems,” he said, adding that parties should not participate in polls if they do not trust the voting method.
Citing his example of losing in the Lok Sabha elections and months later a landslide victory in the Assembly polls, he said, “One day voters choose you, the next day they don't. I never blamed the machines.”
In this year's Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls – the first after the Center revoked its special status and turned it into a Union Territory – the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference put up a stellar show by winning 48 seats in the 95-member National Conference. Assembly. The Congress, which fought the elections in collaboration with the National Conference, won six seats.
Mr. Abdullah said he was talking about principles rather than partisan loyalty. In another comment that went against the Congress line, the Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister praised the Narendra Modi government for infrastructure projects like Central Vista.
“Contrary to what everyone thinks, I think what is happening with this Central Vista project in Delhi is a damn good thing. I believe that building a new parliament building was an excellent idea. We needed a new parliament building. The old had survived. its usefulness,” he said.
Mr Abdullah's comments come amid the protest by Congress and some of its allies against the EVM voting method after the big losses in Haryana and Maharashtra. The BJP has dismissed the allegations and pointed to the victory of the opposition in Jharkhand, which voted with Maharashtra.
The National Conference leader's statements also come amid unrest within the INDIA opposition bloc, with the Trinamool Congress demanding a change at the top and appointing its leader Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the alliance.
On a question on the issue, Mr. Abdullah acknowledged that there is unrest among some INDIA partners as they felt the Congress was not doing enough to deserve leadership of the bloc.
“Being the largest party in Parliament, and also having the Leader of Opposition in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the fact that they have a pan-India footprint, which no other party can claim, are a natural kind of leaders of an opposition movement,” he said.
Yet there is a sense of unrest among some allies, who feel Congress is “not doing enough to justify, earn or preserve it.” That is something that the Congress may want to consider.” Mr. Abdullah praised former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, describing her as a leader of unparalleled stature within the opposition. “When the INDIA bloc comes together, she will play an important leadership role,” added he added.
