Omar Abdullah pitches for 'single-party' government in J-K

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah Monday strongly pitched for single-party government in Jammu and Kashmir as "coalition culture has failed in the state".

"I want people of the state to elect a single party government in Jammu and Kashmir, keeping in view the challenges and magnitude of problems faced to the people. Experiment of coalitions has not worked well in the state," he said at a function at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here Monday evening.

"In fact, the coalition culture has failed in various parts of the country as well and in a state like Jammu and Kashmir, a stable and strong dispensation was of paramount importance to steer it out of the mess created during the past nearly four years," Abdullah said.

The function was held to welcome PDP's general secretary and former IAS officer Mehboob Iqbal and Bhaderwah Municipal Council president Shahid Mougal into the NC.

He claimed that the people, dejected by the PDP-BJP's misrule during over three years, are yearning for early elections to send out a terse message to the Centre about its misadventure by thrusting an "insensitive" and an "anti-poor government" upon the state.

Abdullah referred to the massive support and goodwill towards the NC and exuded confidence that the party will give a stable and responsive government.

He said large scale desertions in the PDP are reflective of the anger among people for the miseries caused to them during the past three-and-a-half years.

Referring to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's observations about the BJP and its central leaders, he said when in power she used to walk extra miles in praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he was offering all assistance to the state even without asking.

"Now Mufti is seeing everything bad in the BJP, in whose company her government inflicted scars and bruises to the public psyche, which are hard to be filled," he alleged.