JAMMU, OCTOBER 7: Senior BJP leader and former Minister Bali Bhagat hit back strongly at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his remarks accusing the delimitation exercise of being designed to benefit the BJP, saying that Omar Abdullah has no moral ground to lecture others on delimitation when the National Conference has itself benefited from decades of identity-based and communal political mobilisation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhagat said Omar Abdullah’s statement has exposed the double standards of the National Conference.
“Omar Abdullah is talking about delimitation today, but he should first tell the people of Jammu and Kashmir how the National Conference managed to remain politically dominant for decades. Was that dominance created only through development and governance, or was religion, region and communal vote-bank politics also used as a political instrument?” Bhagat asked.
“If Omar Abdullah wants to open the chapter of delimitation, then let us discuss the entire electoral history of Jammu and Kashmir—not just the part that suits the National Conference.”
Bhagat alleged that the NC’s long political history was built substantially around religious, regional and identity-based political mobilisation, and said the party cannot now portray every change in the electoral map as a conspiracy against itself.
“For decades, the National Conference benefited from politics centred around identity, religion and regional divisions. You won election after election on that political arithmetic. At that time, where was the concern about communal politics? Where was the concern about manipulation? Why was the system acceptable when it repeatedly delivered power to you?”
He added; “Today, when BJP has emerged as a major political force in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah suddenly remembers delimitation, voter lists and alleged manipulation. The people can see the political contradiction.”
Bhagat challenged Omar Abdullah to explain why the National Conference emerged as the single-largest party in the 2024 Assembly elections, winning 42 seats, while BJP won 29.
“If the delimitation was supposedly designed to hand elections to BJP, then why did NC win 42 seats? This single fact destroys the simplistic political theory Omar Abdullah is trying to sell.”
“You cannot say delimitation was created to favour BJP and, in the same breath, celebrate an election in which your own party emerged as the largest party. Which version should the people believe, Omar Abdullah?”
Bhagat said that if Omar Abdullah has evidence that the delimitation process was specifically designed on religious or communal considerations, he should place that evidence before the competent constitutional authorities.
“Make the evidence public. Show the people exactly which constituency was created for which religion and how. Political allegations are easy; evidence is difficult.”
On Omar Abdullah’s comments about SIR and voter-list changes, Bhagat said; “We welcome a clean and transparent electoral roll. Every genuine voter must have the right to vote and every illegal entry must be dealt with according to law. But before raising alarm about voter-list manipulation, Omar Abdullah should answer a very basic question—where was this concern during the decades when the NC repeatedly won elections?”
“Was every election fair only because NC was winning? And does the system suddenly become suspicious when BJP gains political ground? This selective outrage must end.”
Bhagat said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are capable of understanding political narratives and should not be treated as merely vote-bank statistics.
“The people are no longer willing to accept politics based on fear, communal arithmetic and manufactured grievances. Every voter has the right to choose freely. No party has a permanent ownership over any community, region or electoral constituency.”
He concluded: “Omar Abdullah should stop blaming delimitation for every political challenge. If he wants to discuss electoral history, let him discuss the entire history—including the role of religion, region and communal vote-bank politics in the National Conference’s decades-long political dominance. The ballot box belongs to the people, not to any political dynasty.”
