KOKERNAG: Mehbooba Mufti, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, on Sunday accused the BJP leaders of being frustrated which was why they were targeting the regional parties. Addressing a public rally in Kokernag in favour of PDP candidate Haroon Chowdhary, Mehbooba Mufti said, “What will (BJP) they do? They are frustrated. They know that people are upset after what they did five years ago in Jammu and Kashmir (abrogation of Article 370). People want to respond to them through ballot. They can talk about anything.” The former JK CM also questioned the National Conference recalling the NC leaders meeting with the BJP leaders in Delhi under the cover of darkness to form a government with them in 2014. Her comments follow the statement of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devender Singh Rana, who claimed that NC leader Omar Abdullah attempted to ally with the BJP in 2014. “You must have heard the statement of Devendra Rana sahab. The time when the BJP people from Delhi were standing at our door asking to form a government with them for three months…Who was the promient National Conference leader to meet Amit Shah in Delhi? And asking him to form a government with them.” Rana told reporters earlier in the month, “He (Omar Abdullah) was interim CM and didn’t want to leave power. He wanted NC to be in power in one way or the other. Farooq Abdullah was abroad and he asked him to go and talk to the BJP and stay in government somehow. BJP was in the centre, so Farooq Abdullah always wanted to go hand in hand with the central government. Now the situation will not arise for BJP and NC to come together.” Polling would be held in Jammu Kashmir in three phases: September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. The National Conference and the Congress have forged a pre-poll alliance days ahead of the polls. There are a total number of 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, out of which 7 seats are reserved for SCs and 9 seats are reserved for STs. According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible electors. These are the first assembly elections to be held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. In the previous Assembly elections, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12.
