Omar Abdullah dares Ram Madhav on Pakistan links, BJP leader softens

Omar Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday dared BJP leader Ram Madhav to prove his allegations of Pakistani links of his party or apologize, forcing the latter to say he wasn't questioning anyone's patriotism.

Ram Madhav, the BJP's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir, alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference boycotted local body polls last month "because they had instructions from across the border (Pakistan).

"Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form (a) government. What they did prompted the Governor (Satya Pal Malik) to look into the whole issue," the General Secretary said.

Abdullah took on Ram Madhav and asked him not to make wild allegations and instead provide his allegations.

"I dare you to prove your allegation. You have RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), NIA (National Investigation Agency) and IB (Intelligence Bureau) at your command (CBI too is your parrot). So have the guts to place evidence in the public domain. Either prove this or be man enough to apologize. Don't practice shoot and scoot politics," Abdullah said.

In response, Ram Madhav sought to justify his remarks.

"Just take it in your stride Omar Abdullah. Not questioning your patriotism at all. But the sudden love between NC and PDP and the hurry to form government leads to many suspicions and political comments. Not to offend you," he said.

However, Abdullah persisted with his challenge.

"No, misplaced attempts at humour won't work. You have claimed my party has been acting at the behest of Pakistan. I dare you to prove it! Place the evidence of your allegation of NC boycott of ULB polls at Pakistan behest in public domain. It's an open challenge to you and your government," Abdullah tweeted.

Ram Madhav's remarks came a day after Governor Malik dissolved the Assembly even as the PDP wrote to him saying that the Congress and the National Conference had decided to support her party to form a government and their collective strength was 56.

People's Conference leader Sajjad Lone also wrote to the Governor staking claim to form a government with the BJP's backing. He claimed the support of 18 MLAs besides the 25-strong BJP and contended that it was more than the required number for majority.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader's allegations came in an interview on Wednesday hours ahead of the Governor's move ordering the state Assembly dissolved with "immediate effect".

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