SRINAGAR: Hitting back at Amit Shah for terming the Gupkar Alliance as “Gupkar gang” and “anti-national”, the Congress on Tuesday said it strongly refutes the Home Minister’s “concocted and baseless” assertions, while two former J&K chief ministers — Omar Abdullah of the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP — alleged that his “frustration” stems from the political amalgam deciding to contest the local body polls.
In Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) said the party was neither a part of the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) nor had it participated in any of its meetings or deliberations. Congress spokesman Ravindra Sharma told this newspaper that the Gupkar Alliance has become “anti-national” overnight for the BJP because they were put behind bars, they are contesting elections and they BELIEVE in democracy.
Sharma said when the BJP shared power with these parties in the past, they were called nationalist parties and now, they have become untouchables.
In a two-page statement posted on Twitter, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused Shah of making mischievous statements.
The Congress was never in favour of international intervention on Kashmir issue and was committed to the country’s integrity, sovereignty and the tricolour, he said.
Abdullah, in a series of tweets, said: “I can understand the frustration behind this attack by the Home Minister. He had been briefed that the People’s Alliance was preparing to boycott elections. This would have allowed the BJP and newly formed King’s party a free run in J&K. We didn’t oblige them.”
While slamming Shah, Mehbooba said: “Old habits die hard. Earlier, the BJP’s narrative was that the ‘tukde tukde gang’ threatened India’s sovereignty & they are now using the ‘Gupkar Gang’ euphemism to project us as anti-nationals. Irony died a million deaths since its the BJP that violates the constitution.”