PM in Srinagar: Omar says people were brought in from Jammu for PM Modi's maiden rally

Srinagar: Taking a swipe at BJP, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday accused it of bringing in supporters from other parts of the state for Prime Mister Narendra Modi’s rally here. “Two trainloads of supporters are being brought in from Banihal in Jammu. Why not just have the rally there?” Omar tweeted ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s maiden election rally in Srinagar. “Not a single BJP flag or banner on the vehicles or with the people I saw walking into the stadium. Such a telling sign of BJP support,” Omar said in another tweet. Omar’s official residence is close to the venue of the rally. The Chief Minister also hit out at Congress, which was coalition partner of his National Conference for the last six years, saying even some leaders supported by Congress have been asked to provide people for the rally. [caption id=“attachment_1835661” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah. PTI[/caption] “Amazingly even Cong(ress) supported ’leaders’ have been asked to contribute people to the BJP rally. Politics makes for strange bedfellows,” he said. Omar was apparently referring to Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir, who joined the cabinet in 2009 from Congress quota, though he had contested the 2008 elections as an independent candidate. Congress has not fielded any candidate from Gulmarg Assembly seat, where Mir is seeking a third consecutive term. The Chief Minister also claimed that separatist-turned mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone, who is contesting the assembly elections from Handwara in Kupwara district, had provided 80 vehicles for ferrying his supporters for the Prime Minister’s rally here. “So @sajadlone is sending about 80 vehicles of supporters from Kupwara to help his “big brother” make up the numbers,” he added. Lone had met the Prime Minister in the run up to the polls and is believed to have entered into a pact with BJP for the assembly elections. BJP, which is making a big push to form a government in the Muslim-majority state for the first, did not field any candidate against Lone. While taking a jibe at Modi over his speech at Samba rally, Omar tweeted, “And the dynastic politics tired script starts again. Why not try this with the Akali Dal & the Shiv Sena first @narendramodi ji”. Omar had recently said that it was not difficult for BJP to arrange one lakh people to attend Prime Minister’s rally in Srinagar but asked if the party can convert them into votes. “They have money and they can arrange vehicles to ferry people, even Sajjad Lone can arrange 20 to 30 thousand people from his constituency to attend the rally. The real question is can BJP convert those number into votes,” Omar had told reporters in Nagrota recently. Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad too had accused BJP of bringing in supporters from outside the state to attend Prime Minister’s rally in Kishtwar on November 22. PTI