Even as the Jammu and Kashmir Congress leaders have maintained a guarded silence over Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's two back-to-back statements, bickering in the coalition has started a Congress MP has taken serious note of Abdullah's remarks on Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Monday hit out at Omar Abdullah over his remarks on EVMs, asking why he had changed his approach towards INDIA bloc partners after becoming the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.
He said parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have also spoken against electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Tagore said, "It's the Samajwadi Party, NCP, and Shiv Sena (UBT) that have spoken against EVMs. Please check your facts, CM Omar Abdullah."
J&K Congress leaders worried over Omar's statement
Hoping to get a ministerial berth and a Rajya Seat, Congress leadership in Jammu and Kashmir is worried over recent statements of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in which he lambasted the grand old party.
Two statements of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are not going well among Congress leaders. First Omar Abdullah questioned Congress's hegemony in leading the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and in a second statement the Chief Minister endorsed BJP's stand on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Congress leaders, who are expecting to get some share in the government, are worried a lot because these statements of Omar Abdullah are an indication that the National Conference is not ready to further accommodate the grand old party.
With the support of Independents and MLAs of CPM and Aam Aadmi Party the National Conference has managed a comfortable majority in the Assembly.
Omar supports BJP on EVMs
Creating embarrassment for the coalition partner Congress, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah supported BJP's stand on EVMs
Omar Abdullah criticized the Congress's inconsistent stance, pointing out that the party celebrates victories achieved through the same EVMs it now chooses to question when faced with unfavorable results.
"When you get a hundred plus members of Parliament using the same EVMs, and you celebrate that as a victory for your party, you can't then a few months later turn around and say… we don't like these EVMs because now the election results aren't going the way we would like them to," Abdullah remarked in an interview to a news agency.
