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Abdullah, who assumed the charge of the new government in Srinagar on Wednesday, was accorded a rousing reception on reaching the National Conference (NC) headquarters in the winter capital.
The BJP swept the polls in Jammu to emerge as the second largest party. In the recently held JK assembly polls, results of which were declared on October 8, the BJP won 29 of the 90 seats on which elections were held and garnered 25.64 per cent vote share.
This was the first visit of Abdullah to Jammu after becoming the chief minister with his party winning 42 seats and bagging 23.43 per cents votes. Its alliance partner Congress won six seats and CPI(M) one.
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He said the NC was under no compulsion to appoint a deputy chief minister like the previous coalition governments headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Ghulam Nabi Azad and himself to give representation to both the regions.
“The Congress has so far not taken any decision to join the new cabinet. We took a decision and appointed a deputy chief minister (Surinder Choudhary) from our own party.
“It was an answer to those who during election campaigning used to say that NC is a party of Muslims and a Kashmir-based dynastic party that cannot tolerate leaders from Jammu. Now we have a deputy CM who is a Hindu and has nothing to do with my family,” the chief minister said.
Without naming the BJP, he said the delimitation and reservation were done in a way to benefit one party but “all tactics including use of government machinery can never help you win elections”.
“Easy work is done by reaching here (forming the government). Now the difficult work starts as we have to fulfil the aspirations of the people, pull them out of their difficulties and bridge the gap between the government and the people,” he said.
Referring to the welcome speech of senior party leader and former minister Ajay Kumar Sadotra, Abdullah said he was compelled to ask why the anger of the people against the Lt Governor-led administration could not be seen on the polling booths.
“The people of Kashmir, Chenab valley and Pir Panjal region showed their anger by voting for us… We also heard that the people in Jammu are angry over stopping of ‘Darbar Move’, installation of smart meters, high electricity bills, water shortage and growing unemployment but the anger could not be seen at the polling booths. What is the reason for this? “We have to understand it and if they are not upset (with BJP), we don’t need to do much because everything is alright for them. But if they are angry and despite their anger, they voted for one side, we have to look for the reasons,” he said.
However, the chief minister said whatever the reasons, he knows that his government will not run on the voting pattern.
“Elections are over and the people gave their mandate. The government is formed and now it is our turn to reach out to the people and address their issues… After 2018 (when the PDP-BJP government collapsed), people faced a lot of problems and are disappointed,” he said.
Abdullah assured the people that they would be heard by his government and “your voices won’t be lost in the darkness anymore”.
He asked the party workers not to “misuse the government” for their own benefit.
“This is not for us as we are servants and not the owners. The real owners are the people and we have to work for them 24 hours to mitigate their problems and bring back smiles on their faces which we could not see for the last six to eight years,” Abdullah said.
The chief minister also asked the party workers not to lose their heart and said JK is presently a UT and which cannot be such for long.
“We will get back our rights. We will fight for all that which was taken away from us and there is no need to get annoyed or disappointed,” he said.