Farooq Abdullah rules out pre-poll alliance with any party for J&K Assembly elections

Srinagar, Aug 7 (IANS) National Conference President and former J&K Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said his party would not enter into a pre-poll alliance with any party for the upcoming Assembly elections. 

"We will not enter into any alliance with any party, totally not," he told reporters here.

Dr Abdullah’s statement came on the eve of the full Election Commission of India's (ECI) visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to review the preparations for the polls.

Led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the complete ECI team will meet the representatives of political parties to get their feedback on conducting the polls.

The NC chief said the poll panel will talk to the parties and then consult the Centre before finalising the election dates. "Whether the dates are announced or not, the ECI is coming here. They will talk to everyone, then they will consult the Government of India and finalise the dates. They cannot finalise the dates themselves. Today, everything is done by the Government of India, PM (Narendra) Modiji and the Home Minister, Amit Shah."

On the new Haj policy, he said that the government should not interfere in religious issues. “This government can do anything... This is not a big issue. Why will they stop someone from performing Hajj? People are not going on the government’s money but on their own. The government has stopped all the Hajj subsidies. How will they stop anyone? If anyone performs the Amarnath Yatra or Badrinath Yatra, can we tell him not to come again? This is a religious issue and the government should not put pressure on religious issues," he added.

On the situation in Bangladesh, Dr Abdullah claimed that India has been left alone as none of its neighbours is its friend anymore. "In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was pro-India, but the people there were not pro-India. She ran the affairs till she could. Today, India should be ready to deal with dangers. Today, none of our neighbours is our friend. We are alone, be it Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. The regret is that this big brother has miffed the younger brothers," he claimed.

He said that the need of the hour is the revival of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and "India should fulfil its duty as the big brother".

"India should sit with everyone and discuss their problems, which was the aim of the SAARC. Only then can all our neighbours become our friends."

Dr Abdullah and PDP President and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti have been critical of the government’s policy towards its neighbours. Dr Abdullah said on Tuesday that the only way to get peace and prosperity in J&K is by talking to the neighbour (Pakistan), a stand the Centre has vehemently ruled out.