Video Producer: Anubhav Mishra
Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma
The war of words between Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Ram Madhav and National Conference’s Omar Abdullah continued on Thursday, 22 November, after the former challenged Abdullah to prove “genuine love” between NC and Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and fight the next elections together.
Both political leaders sparred on Twitter after Madhav questioned Abdullah and Mehbooba’s wish to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba Mufti too joined in later in the fracas, as she lashed out against Madhav over his "Pakistan" remark, saying that she was "shocked to see baseless allegations against mainstream parties" in Jammu and Kashmir.
Madhav on Thursday stirred a fresh controversy by accusing National Conference’s (NC’s) Omar Abdullah and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti of coming together to form an alliance at the “behest of instructions from across the border.”
Moments after Madhav’s accusation, Abdullah asked him to prove his accusation or apologise.
“I dare you Ram Madhav ji to prove your allegation. You have RAW, NIA & IB 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 apologise. Don’t practice shoot & scoot politics,” Abdullah tweeted.
After Abdullah’s demand, Madhav asked the former to take it in his stride, saying he didn’t mean to offend him. However, Abdullah wasn’t satisfied with the response.
‘Nationalistic and Patriotic Only If You Are With Centre?’: Mufti
While slamming Madhav for his "Pakistan" remark, Mufti questioned if supporting the Centre was the sole criterion to become "nationalistic and patriotic", indicating that MLAs of PDP and NC were labelled "anti-nationalistic" just because they had "enough integrity to stand up to your (BJP's) failed attempts of defection".
Madhav’s Accusation
Madhav had accused the PDP and NC of coming together after “fresh instructions from across the border.”
“PDP and NC boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border. Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form government. What they did prompted Governor to look into the whole issue,” Madhav said, charging at political rivals Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Political tempers have shot up with Madhav’s accusation on Thursday morning. He said Mufti never claimed that she will form the government in her letter to the governor.
“Only Governor can answer why his home's fax machine is not working. Only he should answer. But this is lame excuse on the part of Madam Mehbooba. In letter, she never claimed that she will form the government. She said I'll come see you and stake the claim. It was all a drama,” Madhav said.
Jammu and Kashmir plunged into a political crisis on Wednesday when Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Assembly after Mehbooba Mufti and People's Conference leader Sajjad Lone staked their respective claims to form the government in the state.
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