Srinagar: After the prime minister demanded an explanation from Congress over Omar Abdullah's 'Kashmir PM' remark, the National Conference (NC) vice-president on Monday said that he was humbled by the attention paid by PM Modi to his speeches.
"I'm humbled by the attention PM Modi pays to my speeches & very grateful to the social media cell of the BJP for highlighting my speech today, especially by WhatsApp'ing it to journalists. Your reach is far greater than mine," Abdullah wrote on Twitter.
He was reacting to Modi's remarks made during a speech in Hyderabad, in which he cornered the Congress and the grand alliance parties demanding to know if they supported the NC leader's pitch for a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir.
At an election rally in Bandipora district of north Kashmir on Monday, Abdullah said the NC would not allow any attacks on Jammu and Kashmir's special status and would strive to get back what was "infringed upon", including the coveted posts of "Sadar-e-Riyasat" and prime minister of the state.
In a series of tweets after the prime minister's attack, Abdullah said the NC had "always stood for the restoration of the terms of accession which Maharaja Hari Singh negotiated for J&K in 1947 & we have done so unashamedly".
"What takes me to the cleaners? I don't need other parties to support our stand. @JKNC_ has always stood for the restoration of the original terms of accession so there is NOTHING new in this. You guys must be really desperate when the Hon PM makes this an election issue," he said.
"Most grateful to Hon (honourable) PM Modi Sahib for taking my humble speech & giving it a nation platform. @JKNC_ has always stood for the original terms of accession & will continue to fight for those. For the record we don't need other parties to endorse our position," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said in another tweet.
He also told the Congress and other opposition parties not to hesitate to distance themselves from his speech. "Dear friends in the Congress & other opposition parties. Please don't hesitate to distance yourselves from my speech of today. In fact call Modi ji's bluff by doing exactly that," the NC leader said.
Union minister Arun Jaitley dubbed Abdullah's remark an attempt to create a "separatists psyche" and asserted that new India would never allow any government to commit such blunders.
"The separatists and the terrorists want a part of the State to segregate from India. India will never accept this. It has already given a loud and clear message both to the separatists/ terrorists and Pakistan that Azadi is not a distant possibility. It is an impossibility," he said.
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