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Jammu and Kashmir Politics: BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Saturday reiterated his claim that National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah ‘met BJP leaders Amit Shah and Ram Madhav in 2014’. Defending his statement, Rana said, “It is true that the 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 it is a lie, he should deny it. If he denies it, I will talk to you with facts…”
Earlier in September, Rana had claimed that he had gone to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in Delhi for talks with Omar Abdullah in 2014. Rana, a former close aide of Abdullah, said the NC had reiterated its offer of full support to the BJP-PDP alliance’s CM candidate in Jammu and Kashmir after the death of PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2016.
On Saturday, Rana said, ‘He (Omar Abdullah) also knows that in 2014 he had met Amit Shah and Ram Madhav and he was interested in forming the government.’
Maintaining the authenticity of his claims, BJP leader Rana said, “I have worked very closely with Omar Abdullah. I have neither lied about him earlier nor am I lying now.”
J&K Elections 2024: What did Devendra Singh Rana claim about Omar Abdullah?
There was a hung mandate in the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Rana claimed that after the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, Omar Abdullah had offered unconditional support to the BJP at the behest of National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah.
Earlier, the BJP leader had said, “The reality is completely different. Now, you (Omar) claim that (BJP Jammu and Kashmir election in-charge) Ram Madhav is close to the PDP. But the truth is that you had repeatedly approached the BJP and the RSS for government formation after the 2014 elections.”
After the 2014 assembly election results, the BJP along with the PDP formed the government under the leadership of Sayeed. After Sayeed’s death, Mehbooba Mufti took over as the chief minister and in 2018, the saffron party walked out of the alliance due to differences with Mehbooba Mufti.
Rana, BJP candidate from Nagrota assembly seat, said that Omar had earlier worked in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999.
J&K Elections 2024: How did Omar Abdullah react?
Omar Abdullah had earlier reacted to BJP candidate Davinder Rana’s statement, saying, “If he wants to call us soft separatists, fine. But then he should tell us about the more than 4,500 National Conference workers, leaders, MLAs and MLCs who have made sacrifices in the last 30-35 years.”
“Why did they do this? If we are running a pro-Pakistan agenda here, if we are promoting terrorism and weakening the country, then who is responsible for the lives of those 4,500 people? There is a clear difference between what Rana Sahab says and the ground reality…” Andullah said.
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