Will not contest J&K assembly polls: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Aug 07: Former Chief Minister and  National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah today reiterated  that he will not contest the assembly elections.

In an interview with the Indian Express he said that he has made it clear that he will not contest. “No, I am not contesting. I have made it very clear. I have been the CM of a state, the CM of the (once) most empowered state. I cannot see myself in a position where I would have to ask the LG for appointing my peon. It is as simple as that… I am not going to sit outside the waiting room of the LG and, ask him, ‘Sir, please sign the file’,” Omar said.

Asked whether is not this part of the fight, the former Chief Minister said  that he is all for the fight. He stated that he also wants  people to know  that assembly election is not about power for him but it is about respect and about his own self-respect.

“More importantly, it is about the self-respect of Jammu and Kashmir. And thatis what I want to fight for… I am not going to compromise on that. Now, if there was a way in which I could keep the NC out from the elections and still do this, I would happily do that. But I can’t. Keeping the NC out means you are ceding everything to the BJP. So the NC will fight, it will fight with its every resource. We will put our strongest leaders in the field, I will lead the campaign in every constituency. The only thing I will not do is contest myself,”he said.

To a question that if NC wins elections and has its Chief Minister he would have to  sit in the LG’s lobby, Omar said the Centre promised the Supreme Court that statehood will be restored. “We will go back to the Supreme Court and tell them, ‘Here is the SG’s (Solicitor General’s) commitment to you that statehood will be restored. We ask you to call the Government of India and please tell them’,” he said.

NC leader said that Unlike Delhi and Puducherry, J&K has the Home Minister and Prime Minister’s commitment that statehood will be restored. “The appropriate time was now. If not now, then immediately after the Assembly elections, “he said.