BJP Hits Back At Omar Abdullah Over Poaching Allegations, Says CM Should ‘Introspect’

NEW DELHI, JULY 12: The BJP on Sunday rejected Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s allegations that the party was attempting to poach National Conference MLAs, calling the claims “speculative and baseless”. TravelGuides & Travelogues BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said Abdullah should introspect about the kind of leaders within his party instead of making unsubstantiated allegations. Abdullah had on Saturday accused the BJP of trying to destabilise his government by engineering a split in the ruling National Conference and alleged that some NC MLAs were offered ₹20-30 crore to switch sides. Responding to the charge, Patra said the BJP does not believe in any activity that undermines democracy and questioned Abdullah’s confidence in his own party members. “I find it astonishing when any leader says that his own people can be bought for ₹30 crore or ₹12 crore. There should be introspection about what kind of people are in the party who can be bought,” Patra said. BJP leaders also demanded that Abdullah either provide evidence to support his allegations or apologise. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi termed the accusation “extremely irresponsible and baseless”, while J&K BJP MLA RS Pathania warned of legal action if the allegations were not withdrawn. The BJP leaders asked the Chief Minister to reveal the names of MLAs allegedly approached, identify those involved, and clarify why no complaint was filed with investigating agencies if such an incident occurred. Government The BJP accused Abdullah of making the allegations to divert attention from what it called failures in governance and unfulfilled promises of the National Conference government.