BJP Slams Omar Abdullah Over ‘MLA Poaching’ Claim, Demands Evidence or Apology

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday strongly rejected Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s allegation that the party was attempting to topple his government by offering large sums of money to National Conference (NC) MLAs to defect.

Calling the allegations “extremely irresponsible, baseless and condemnable,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi challenged Abdullah to either provide evidence supporting his claims or issue a public apology.

The BJP’s sharp response came after Abdullah, while addressing a workers’ convention at Hazratbal in Srinagar on the 26th death anniversary of his grandmother, Akbar Jehan, alleged that BJP leaders had approached NC legislators with offers ranging between ₹20 crore and ₹30 crore to switch allegiance.

Rejecting the accusations, Trivedi said the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit had also condemned the chief minister’s remarks.

“Omar Abdullah has made an extremely irresponsible and baseless allegation that the BJP is trying to break his party by poaching MLAs. We strongly condemn this statement. He should either produce evidence or apologise,” Trivedi said.

The BJP Rajya Sabha MP further alleged that Abdullah was making such claims to divert public attention from what he described as the National Conference government’s “incompetence, inaction and misgovernance” in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Being on a constitutional post, the chief minister should focus on serving the people instead of making unfounded allegations to hide his government’s failures,” Trivedi said, adding that the National Conference should concentrate on governance rather than “taking revenge for its own shortcomings through false accusations.”

Echoing the party’s stand, Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokesperson and MLA R.S. Pathania demanded that Abdullah disclose the names of the legislators who were allegedly approached, identify the BJP leaders involved, and reveal when and where the purported offers were made.

“If such a serious incident actually took place, why was it not reported to the investigating agencies? An elected chief minister cannot make such allegations without placing credible evidence before the authorities,” Pathania said.

He also warned that if Abdullah failed to substantiate his allegations or apologise, the BJP would initiate a defamation case against him for making “misleading and unsubstantiated allegations intended to create confusion among the people.”

Pathania further criticised the National Conference government, claiming it had failed to fulfil its electoral promises despite receiving a five-year mandate.

Commenting on the National Conference’s proposed protest in Delhi demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, Pathania said the Centre’s position was already clear.

“The Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister have stated the government’s stand in Parliament, and the same position has also been conveyed before the Supreme Court. Statehood will be restored at the appropriate time. There is no need for unnecessary political drama,” he said.

Accusing the National Conference of repeatedly politicising the statehood issue to divert attention from governance, Pathania asserted that such “false narratives” would not succeed in Jammu and Kashmir.

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