NC-Congress alliance forced Ghulam Nabi Azad to bow out: Omar Abdullah

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Friday said his party’s alliance with the Congress has forced former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to excuse himself from campaigning for his party’s candidates.

Azad, who had founded the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) after a fallout with the Congress in September 2022, had announced his decision to not campaign citing ill health.

Omar, however, has attributed Azad’s decision to the formation of the NC-Congress alliance on all 90 assembly seats.

“For NC, it was never an easy decision to leave seats in Kashmir where we are in a strong position. As we want to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) jointly in Jammu especially in Poonch, Rajouri, that’s why our party has left a few seats for the Congress in Kashmir. And the first result of our alliance is Ghulam Nabi Azad quitting campaigning for his party’s candidates. He [Azad] had even told his candidates if they want to leave the fight they can leave and withdraw their forms,” said Omar while taking a dig at the former chief minister.

Notably, Azad’s decision had a negative impact on the new party looking to contest its first elections, with Banihal Jammu candidate Dr Asif withdrawing his nomination.

Azad, 75, had formed the DPAP in September 2022 after ending his five-decade long association with the Congress. However, DPAP which he wanted to paint as an “alternative” to regional forces like the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party failed in its first political test, with all its three Lok Sabha candidates losing their deposits. The party was then hit by desertion, with over a half dozen party leaders, including treasurer and former minister, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, quitting.

Rattled by the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Azad was planning to stitch an alliance with leaders who are not aligned with others or have recently quit their parties.

‘Will revoke PSA

if voted to power’

Omar also said that people of Kashmir have faced a lot of problems, with many being jailed and detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), adding that his party will abolish PSA if voted to power.

“We have promised in our manifesto that if our government comes we will abolish the PSA so that in future nobody could use this law in a wrong way,” he said, adding, “The young and old in the name of verification of passports are being troubled. We will stop this harassment.”