Amid controversy over his joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY), former minister and two-time Lok Sabha member Choudhary Lal Singh on Thursday accused National Conference leader Omar Abdullah of sabotaging Rahul Gandhi's march in Jammu and Kashmir by raking up controversial issues.
"It appears that Omar Abdullah is working at the behest of the government to sabotage Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K to please his political masters", Choudhary Lal Singh said while reacting to the former Chief Minister's statement.
Omar Abdullah has opposed the decision of the Congress to allow Choudhary Lal Singh to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K. He alleged that Lal Singh had supported the accused of the infamous Rasana rape and murder case.
"Why Omar Abdullah maintained silence when his father Dr. Farooq Abdullah specially called me to the all-party meeting?", Singh asked, adding, "When I was specially called in the all-party meeting by Dr. Farooq Abdullah himself on voting rights to non-locals Omar Abdullah raised no objection but when Congress invited me for Bharat Jodo Yatra he (Omar) objected".
"Timing of Omar Abdullah raising objections on my joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra smacks something fishy. I think Omar Abdullah is working on the directions of some invisible forces to sabotage the Yatra", Singh said.
Choudhary Lal Singh reminded Omar Abdullah of his highly controversial statement on Maharaja Hari Singh during the 2002 assembly elections and his provocative statement in the Lok Sabha on Amarnath land row.
Omar opposed Lal's Singh joining Bharat Jodo Yatra
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the Congress should not allow former minister Chaudhary Lal Singh, who had allegedly supported the rapists in the Kathua rape-and-murder case, to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
"The Congress will have to look into it that some people might try to use the yatra to whitewash their past. We have not forgotten the role played by those leaders who tried to save the rapist. The way they hurt the sentiments of people is not hidden from anyone," Abdullah told reporters at Srinagar.
The former chief minister was responding to a question about whether the Congress should allow the participation of leaders like Singh, who had come out in support of the rape accused while being a minister in the PDP-BJP government.
Farooq Abdullah had called Lal Singh to the all-party meeting
In the all-party meeting convened on the initiative of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Choudhary Lal Singh of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan was specially invited along with other Jammu-based parties.
The all-party meeting was held on September 11, 2022, at the residence of Dr. Farooq Abdullah in Jammu on voting rights to non-locals.
Not only Choudhary Lal Singh attended the all-party meeting but he was also nominated as a member of the 14-member-pane to chalk out the future course of action against the move to include "non-locals" in the revised electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir.
While the National Conference Lok Sabha member and retired Justice Hasnain Masoodi would be the convener of the panel, the outspoken pro-Jammu leader and former minister Choudhary Lal Singh is also one of the members of the 14-member-committee.
The meeting which lasted for over two hours was attended, among others, by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, Awami National Conference president Muzaffar Shah, J&K Congress president Vikar Rasool Wani and working president Raman Bhalla, former minister, and Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan chief Choudhary Lal Singh, Shiv Sena president Munish Sawhney, Dogra Sadar Sabha president Gulchain Singh Charak, Mission Statehood president Sunil Dimple, besides Des Raj Manhas and Ashwani Kapoor of the CPI.
Choudhary Lal Singh of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, who demands the creation of a separate Jammu state, too, opposed the inclusion of outsiders as voters in Jammu and Kashmir.
