New Delhi/Jammu:
Narendra Modi's
sadbhavana mission has not impressed politicians in Kashmir. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and main opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti are warring over perceived support - past or present - to the Gujarat Chief Minister.
At the heart of the dispute - which has moved online thanks to Mr Abdullah's tweets - is whether Ms Mufti recently expressed public praise for Mr Modi. Absolutely, says the BJP's Sushma Swaraj who was present when the Gujarat Chief Minister ended his three-day fast yesterday - one he has dedicated to the promotion of harmony.
To illustrate her point that Mr Modi's governance and development of Gujarat have won over even staunch critics, Ms Swaraj shared an anecdote in her address to the thousands that were present at Mr Modi's camp. At a meeting last month of the National Integration Council (NIC) in Delhi, Ms Swaraj said, "Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the PDP, a party opposed to the BJP, said that a Muslim friend of hers wanted to invest in Gujarat and was astonished to be quickly granted an appointment. And when he did meet Mr Modi, had a decision in half an hour." She added, "You can accuse an Advani or a Sushma of bias when they praise Modi. But this was Mehbooba Mufti."
Ms Mufti denies the incident. "It is baseless and unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition has chosen to misquote me unnecessarily for their own reason. I appeal to the Government of India that they should release the full text of my speech so that we can put the records straight," the PDP leader said.
Her denial came even as Mr Abdullah tweeted, "I'm not surprised Mehbooba praised Modi, she can praise who ever she likes; I am surprised she'd deny it knowing others heard her speech."
Ms Swaraj has also joined the discussion on Twitter. "I correctly quoted Ms.Mehbooba Mufti in Ahmedabad yesterday," she posted. "I only quoted what she spoke in the presence of over a hundred people in the afternoon session of the NIC meeting on 10th September."
"I was at the NIC meet. I recall what she said about Modi's Gujarat. Sushma is right in recounting the statement. The Home Minister should release the transcripts of the meet," said Arun Jaitley rushing to his party colleague's aid.
Ms Mufti has retaliated not in 144 characters or less, choosing the more conventional sound-bite route. "As far as Omar's tweet goes, he should recall that he was a minister at one point in time and he did not offer to resign in protest and his father was the only Muslim leader who stood by Narendra Modi at that time."
Ms Mufti was alluding to the National Conference having been a part of the BJP-led NDA government of 2002 when the Gujarat riots took place. Omar Abdullah was Minister of State for External Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government then.
Those were difficult days for the Abdullahs and in a blitz of tweets, the J&K Chief Minister retorted: "Have never denied being a part of the NDA Ms Mufti but I've also said it was a mistake I regret & will never repeat nor let my party repeat."
A minute later, he tweeted: "At least I've had the guts to admit our mistake, why don't you have the guts to admit what everyone heard you say - your praise for Modi." And four minutes after that, "Lest I forget Ms. Mufti - the record in parliament will show how I voted on the resolution abt Gujarat riots even though I was a minister. (sic)"