‘Who are they (PM and BJP) to tell me what to eat, wear, speak?’: Farooq Abdullah on PM Modi’s Rajasthan speech

.@JKNC_ candidate for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat @RuhullahMehdi filed his nomination papers today accompanied by a large number of enthusiastic colleagues & supporters. pic.twitter.com/aXRBPMN2iL

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 25, 2024

Addressing party workers, Farooq Abdullah said, “We have come together to protect our identity and the Indian Constitution.”

Stating that the INDIA alliance wants to keep the country together, Abdullah said, “Look at the speech the Prime Minister gave the other day (in Rajasthan). The Constitution gives everyone the same rights, everyone is equal. The intent of the government at the Centre is to change the Constitution. Who are they to tell me what I eat, what language I speak and what I should wear.”

Abdullah said that on Thursday, he entered the Congress headquarters in Srinagar for the first time and invited Congress state unit president to the NC offices.

Speaking at Nawa-i-Subh, Rasool said that the Congress and NC tried to persuade the PDP in 2014 not to align with the BJP because they had an agenda they wanted to implement. “I wish they had listened to us, things would not be this way. It has been 10 years since the last assembly elections, so many (people) were put in jails, the state became a UT, and our chief ministers were detained.”

Rasool also urged party workers to stand united against “parties with symbols such as apple (Peoples Conference), bat (J&K Apni Party) and bucket (DPAP)”, which he said are “all BJP”. “They get their funding, office, and security from them,” he said.

NC candidate Mehdi, meanwhile, filed his nomination papers at the Srinagar District Collector’s office on Thursday, and the NC’s youth president Salman Sagar also submitted his papers to the returning officer. Party vice-president Omar Abdullah, who accompanied the candidates, said, “Ruhulla filed nomination today but Salman also filed nomination as an additional candidate. In view of what happened in Surat recently, it was decided by the party that we will field a covering candidate.”