Says Budgam defeat a ‘lesson,’ need to introspect; Nowgam Police Station blast ‘our mistake,’ experts should have been consulted
Naveed Ul Haq Ganaiee
Srinagar, Nov 15 :
National Conference (NC) President, Dr Farooq Abdullah Saturday said that the Member Parliament from Srinagar constituency, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is answerable to the party for whatever he has done.
Talking to reporters here Abdullah, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said, “Ruhullah is an MP because of the ‘plough’ (NC). He should love this plough and strengthen it. Our workers have done a good job, we have got a good number of votes but the winning and losing are part of life,” he said.
Abdullah while reacting to the party’s defeat in Budgam Assembly by-election, said the outcome should be taken as a “lesson” rather than a setback, and that the party will work on its shortcomings.
He said the party must reflect on the reasons behind the loss. “We should be happy; it gives us a lesson. We should not panic. Defeat teaches us a lesson, and wherever there are shortcomings, we will try to improve them,” he said.
Pertinently, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) registered a historic win in Budgam for the first time, defeating the National Conference candidate by a margin of 4,478 votes. The Budgam seat, long considered a stronghold of NC, slipped from the party’s grip in the by-election held after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the constituency to retain Ganderbal.
Meanwhile, speaking about the massive blast in Nowgam Police Station, Abdullah said: “This is our mistake; those who understand this explosive better should have been consulted first about how to deal with it instead of trying to handle it ourselves. It has resulted in the loss of 9 lives, besides causing extensive damage to the houses nearby,” he said.
He added that such a situation is being witnessed at a time when the people have not come out of the crisis in Delhi where fingers are being pointed at every Kashmiri. “When will that day come when they will accept that we are Indians and we are not responsible for this? Ask those who are responsible why these doctors had to take this path? What was the reason? There is a need for a thorough study and investigation,” he added—(KNO)