Omar Abdullah lashes out at media on Twitter

Omar Abdullah vs Rahul Gandhi over security for Panchayat leaders in Kashmir

“Have to love the media's priorities when my imaginary battle with Rahul is more important than what the President says in Kashmir”

An angry J & K chief minister Omar Abdullah lashed out at the media today for raking up an “imaginary battle with Rahul (Gandhi)” rather than highlighting the President’s Kashmir visit.

The gunning down of ‘Sarpanches’ in Kashmir leading to mass resignations by Panchayat heads has generated a fresh controversy for the Omar government pitting him against his close friend and AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Aggrieved by the inability of the state government to protect them, several ‘sarpanches’ of  panchayats from Kashmir have made it to the capital and taken up the issue with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi. The sarpanches are also seeking an appointment with Panchayati Raj minister KC Singh Deo in the capital today.

Significantly, Gandhi had on Wednesday hit out at the Omar Abdullah led government for failing to devolve powers to Panchayats in the state. The Congress and the National Conference have a coalition government in the state. The Sarpanches who met Gandhi urged him to ensure secure working conditions for panchayat members.

The fact that Gandhi was concerned about the issue was evident at the Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday, wherein Gandhi had said that it was a “serious matter and needed to be look
into.”

General Secretary of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Coordination Committee Anil Sharma later told reporters, “Gandhi promised to look into their demand including for a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the dependents of the three sarpanches who were killed by the militants.”

Gandhi who is also an AICC General Secretary has promised them that he will visit the state very soon and address meetings on the issue.

During his just concluded two day tour of Jharkhand, Gandhi has promised that he would fight for empowerment of rural bodies. He reportedly, wondered why panchayat members did not get power soon after elections when MPs and MLAs get power soon after election. e and Zivame.