Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today maintained that his National Conference will spring a surprise on the counting day, saying the high voter turnout in the state represents the will of the people to stand for political honour and dignity.
“National Conference is poised to give a huge surprise to its detractors on the counting day and just like the turnout in the first phase, the turnout in the second phase also represents the will of the people to stand up for the political honor and dignity of the state,” Omar said addressing a series of election rallies in Baramulla and Budgam districts which will go to polls in later phases.
The five-phased polling in the state will end on December 21 while the counting will be held on December 23. Omar, who is the working president of National Conference, said NC was not only the political custodian of state's honour and political individuality but also repository of sacrifices rendered ever since it came into being to fight suppression, autocracy and injustice.
He said he had unfaltering faith in the grassroots cadre of the party which formed an essential line of defence against BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar highlighted the development initiatives taken by the NC-led government during the past six years saying there was not a single sector that had not seen unprecedented growth and transformation.
“From the power sector to the tourism sector, our performance speaks for itself. We added nearly 1,700 MW of power to the state's power portfolio while laying the foundation of new projects that would add a further 9,000 MW to the state's power portfolio in the coming years,” he said.
Due to these efforts, Jammu and Kashmir will finally be self-reliant not only in the power sector but will also become economically self-reliant by selling the surplus power to neighbouring states, he added.
Omar said the NC-led government's initiatives in the tourism sector brought a tourism revolution in the state, which resulted in hundreds of new hotels coming up in the state providing employment to thousands of youth.
“During the PDP-Congress government's tenure, the state witnessed a combined tourism inflow of 25 lakh tourists. During the NC-led government's tenure, our combined tourism inflow over the last six years crossed 55 lakh tourists which is more than double of what we received between 2002 and 2008,” he said.
This has positively affected the economy of the state and “has given a boost to the handicrafts, retail, horticulture and hospitality sectors while providing a much needed impetus to employment generation,” he added.
Omar dubbed the ongoing elections as a contest between honesty and corruption, the truth of state's political dignity and “the lies of BJP, Congress and PDP”. He also blamed PDP, Congress and BJP for opposing “all demands of National Conference to get AFSPA revoked from the state”.
