President Zardari Statement Welcomes: Omar Abdullah

HANDWARA: Acknowledging Sajjad Lone as a potent force in Baramulla parliamentary constituency, Held Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he wished that Sajjad should have contested on NC ticket.

“I welcome Sajjad into the mainstream camp. I wish he would have talked to us before announcing his decision to join the election fray,” the Chief Minister told a gathering of around 5000 people at Chinar Park in Handwara on the last day of campaigning for the Baramulla parliamentary constituency.

Omar said had Sajjad taken the decision of contesting elections earlier, the lives of scores of people would have been saved. “Had he announced to contest polls 10 years ago, the number of graves in the graveyards of Kashmir would have been less,” he said.

The Chief Minister said he stands by the announcement of his father and NC president Farooq Abdullah that the assembly will be dissolved if all the pro-freedom leaders join the election fray. “I stand by what my father had said,” he said.

Omar welcomed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent statement that India was not the enemy of the country. “I want the new government in New Delhi to offer a hand of friendship to Pakistan and resume the stalled dialogue process,” he said.

The chief minister said that vote for PDP will be vote for L K Advani and rightwing BJP. “I want a party in power at New Delhi that would strengthen Article 370, promote communal harmony and brotherhood. And I believe that party is Congress as BJP is hell-bent to scrap Article 370 and create a communal divide across India,” he said.