Omar Abdullah: Narendra Modi responsible for Gujarat riots

Bangalore, April 5:

CM

today spoke to people via Google Hangouts and answered some tough questions posed to him by the public. Following are some of his opinions during the interaction-

On AFSPA
On asking about the militancy rates in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar said: "Levels of militancy is on a record low, we are closer to restoring that sense of security in the valley." When asked about the presence of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and the problem that it posed to the people he said that AFSPA had certain sections that were extremely 'draconian.' "When AFSA is used to get protection, thats what creates problem," he said.

On UPA government
For the upocming elections, Omar was all praises for the UPA government and said that the Congress has a more unified agenda that the BJP. "UPA has implemented schemes that have benefited people, such as food security, road development, right to education. UPA will not divide you, to govern you. It will unite to govern," he said.

On Narendra Modi
Abdullah then sharpened his attack on the BJP and directly held Narendra Modi responsible for the 2002 Gujarat riots. He even said that an alliance with NDA was completely out of the question. "There is nobody in BJP who matches Atal Bihari Vajpayee. I resigned during Gujarat riots, I believe that Modi was responsible for the riots, and not Atalji but Atalji could have held Narendra Modi accountable," he said.

When asked what did he think about Modi's presence on social media, Omar said that Modi's presence on social media was one way. "His presence is one way- he talks everybody listens. Modi needs to be more responsive, it looks like he is sermonising people. Some engagement would be better than no engagement."

Omar: Congress has a more unified agenda that the BJP

On AAP

When asked what did he think of the latest political entrant AAP, he said that AAP was not a player in Jammu and Kashmir. "AAP is an interesting phenomenon but we have seen such phenomenon that have risen and fallen in the past. Not sure if the AAP would deliver this election season.

I don't think that AAP will repeat its Delhi success story nationally. There will be some surprises, but dont expect them to come up with numbers," Abdullah said.

On Afzal Guru and death penalty

Omar Abdullah was asked his opinion on death penalty and what he thought of the cases pending such as Rajiv Gandhi's killer and Bhullar's case. He said: "I am not in favour of death penalty. Our country doesn't need it. Life imprisonment is far better punishment."

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