Won't stop Modi from having rally in J&K: Omar

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said there was no question of stopping BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from holding a rally in Srinagar if he desires so. “Where is the question of not allowing (Modi inSrinagar)?” he asked, responding to questions on whether the BJP leader will be allowed in Srinagar. “Please come! If you (BJP) have a party unit here and want to address 500 people, you can come. No one is stopping them (BJP) from holding political activity,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_1259265” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Omar Abdullah. Reuters image[/caption] “We don’t (even) stop separatists from political activities. There is no question of stopping Modi,” he said. The Chief Minister clarified that BJP leaders were stopped from entering the state earlier this year because there was apprehension that the situation would further deteriorate in the aftermath of Kishtwar riots. “Nobody will stop political activity,” he said. Omar said he did not expect Modi or other leaders to say anything new at tomorrow’s rally. “We know the politics of BJP. We are not unaware of their attitude towards this state and the attempts to spread the communal frenzy in Jammu after Kishtwar riots. “While it is expected that some bitter words will be spoken, I don’t think there will be anything that we have not heard already, either from Narendra Modi himself or his party colleagues,” he said. Omar said people of Jammu and Kashmir have fought these things and will continue to combat them in future as well. Responding to a query on his hoarding being put up near BJP rally venue, he said there was “nothing to cry about it” as these are “installed deliberately”. “Hoardings are installed deliberately. Such things cannot be done by mistake. This is my state, I am resident of this state. If I want to install a hoarding, I will. It willbe my only hoarding in the state. Why this irritation?” he asked. “There are 100 hoardings of Modi in my state, but I am not irritated. I would have understood (this irritation) if I had installed a hoarding outside Secretariat of Gujarat. There is nothing to cry about it,” he said. PTI