Modi slams Omar Abdullah over separate PM remark, asks 'mahagathbandan' allies to spell out their stand

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed National Conference leader Omar Abdullah for seeking a provision for the post of a separate Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and asked other constituents of the 'mahagathbandan', like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, NCP and TDP, to spell out their stand on their ally's demand.

Addressing a rally here, Modi said Abdullah and his National Conference want the "clock (of history) to be turned back" but it was not acceptable to the BJP.

Till 1965, the Head of State of Jammu and Kashmir used to be called 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' (meaning President) while the elected Head of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir would be called 'Wazir-e-Azam' (meaning Prime Minister). These nomenclatures were then abolished and replaced with the Governor and the Chief Minister, respectively.

"An ally of the Congress party, a very strong member of the 'mahagathbandhan', the National Conference has given a statement in which they have said that there should be a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir," Modi said, referring to the remarks made by Omar Abdullah earlier in the day that he would like to restore the posts of "President" and "Prime Minister" for the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"They (NC) say that they will take Kashmir back in time and create a scenario wherein there will be two Prime Ministers in India -- one for (Jammu and) Kashmir and one for rest of the country. The Congress party will have to answer as to how its ally has dared to say such a thing," Modi said.

He also asked West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu to spell out their stand on the issue.

Referring to Mamata, he said, "Bangal ki Didi should make her stand clear.... Sharad Pawar has been the Defence Minister of the country and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. I also want to ask him about his stand... I also want to know what is the stand of 'U-turn Babu' (Chandrababu Naidu)."

He also added, "You should not forget that a few days ago, a leader of the National Conference had resorted to sloganeering in favour of Pakistan."

Asserting that the "politics of dividing the nation" has already caused a lot of damage to the country, the Prime Minister said, "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the people of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, but we will not tolerate such wheelers and dealers of Kashmir.