Oppn slams Mehbooba govt, says it lacks vision, direction

Srinagar, May 27: The opposition parties today slammed the state's PDP-BJP government in the Assembly, accusing it of lacking "vision" and "direction" and contending that the 16-months of its rule have been a time wasted.

Leading the attack was National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abullah, who contended that the Mehbooba Mufti government had failed to defend the special status of Jammu and Kashmir before the Supreme Court when NEET was extended to the state.

He questioned the government over its various promises and said no progress was to be seen on revocation of AFSPA or having internal dialogue or restoring the regional balance.

"The 16-months of this government has been wasted as there is nothing to show for in terms of promises made by the two parties in their 'Agenda of Alliance'," Omar said while speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Address.

He said the Governor's Address had a "superficial mention" of corruption-free and development-oriented governance. "This is nothing new and perhaps there has been no government which has not spoken about these issues.

The truth is that there is no vision or direction in this government because this government was formed under compulsion," he said. Omar said the Chief Minister has made many flip flops on various issues and it was likely that doubts will persist about her decision making.

"In the past 16 months, you have not stuck to one line. In the elections, you sought votes on the plank that you wanted to stop BJP (from coming to power) as Omar Abdullah is an old sinner who might join hands with BJP again as he was part of the Vajpayee government at centre.

"After the election, you were hoping that a lot will be achieved by aligning with BJP and entered into an Agenda of Alliance but so far no progress is to be seen on revocation of AFSPA, internal dialogue or restoring the regional balance," he told Mehbooba, the leader of PDP.

He recalled that she had sought Confidence Building Measures from the Centre before forming the government in the wake of death of her father and then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. "Your spokespersons went to media saying that you want assurances on AFSPA and return of power projects to the state.

You met the Prime Minister and emerged satisfied enough to form the government. So far there is no clarity what assurances you got from the Prime Minister.

We want to know," the former Chief Minister said to Mehbooba. Omar also recalled that BJP general secretary Ram Madhav had told the media that Mehbooba had not sought any assurances but only blessings of the Prime Minister.

"If you only wanted blessings, you would have got it on day one. What was the two months' wait for," he asked her, referring to the time taken by her to decide on continuing alliance with BJP after Sayeed's death on January 7.

PTI