Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Tuesday hit back at Omar Abdullah for saying Ram Madhav was back in Kashmir to stitch an alliance with the PDP. Rana claimed that after the 2014 elections, Omar had approached BJP leaders for an alliance but was rebuffed.
"I am surprised to hear Omar Abdullah suggesting that Ram Madhav has connections with the PDP," he said. "The fact remains that in 2014, a delegation led by Omar, which I was also a part of, went to Delhi with a begging bowl to ally with the BJP."
Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Rana said BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, snubbed the NC delegation, forcing them to return empty-handed. "The NC was even willing to have a BJP chief minister in J&K," he said. "Yet, the BJP didn’t agree to an alliance."
He claimed he knew who was supposed to be made BJP chief minister but chose not to reveal the name.
Rana condemned the NC for "demonising the people of Kashmir through politics of deceit" and criticised the party's claim that it would change the name of Shankaracharya Hill, saying, "Let me make it clear that as long as the BJP is in J&K, no power can change the name of this hill," referring to the NC manifesto.
He criticised the NC for promising to release stone pelters from jail if voted to power, saying, "They were responsible for the dance of death on the streets of Kashmir in 2008 and 2010."
He said that Omar seems to have forgotten that he "grew up in the political lap of the BJP." "I believe this party would even consider allying with the BJP today by breaking the pre-poll alliance with Congress."
Taking a swipe at Farooq Abdullah, he said he is known for his mood swings. “What he says in the morning, he doesn't stick to by evening," he said.
He said that the NC is upset with the development taking place in J&K, cautioning, "We will not allow the situation to revert to what it was in 2010 and 2008."
Rana, who joined the NC in the early 2000s and served as Omar’s political advisor from 2009 to 2014 when Omar was the Chief Minister, won the assembly elections from Nagrota in 2014 on an NC ticket.
