NC with INDIA bloc, Ladakh constituency to come up for discussion: Omar Abdullah

Discussions on who will contest from the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat will be held during the talks on the seat-sharing arrangement of the INDIA bloc for next year's general elections, National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah has said while asserting that his party is with the opposition alliance.

Responding to a question about a pre-poll alliance between the National Conference and the Congress after the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-Kargil) election, he said on Saturday, "You do not have an assembly.... so the road starts and ends here." "We are in the INDIA alliance. When there will be a talk of seat sharing, definitely this (Ladakh parliamentary seat) will come up for discussion," said Abdullah, who is on a two-day campaign here in support of National Conference (NC) candidates for the October 4 LAHDC-Kargil election.

The NC and the Congress are fighting the elections together.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said his party supported Congress in the 2019 parliamentary elections but lost the seat to BJP.

Abdullah alleged that he had to leave his security at the Zero Point en route to Kargil and Drass to address the public meeting on the directions of the authorities.

He said this was his third visit to Kargil after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

"This is the first time that I had to leave my security at Zero Point. I do not have any grudge as I know they (BJP) are panicking. I know the people are with us and we have full faith in the Almighty." The National Conference claimed that Abdullah's security was stopped at Zero Point near Mini Marg -- the entry point to Ladakh on the Srinagar-Leh Highway.

"Ladakh UT administration's cowardice was seen today when J-K NC Vice President Omar Abdullah's convoy was stopped at Zero Point Mini Marg and his security was not allowed to proceed," the party said in a statement. It also alleged that the party vice president was "forced" to move ahead without security for his two-day visit to Kargil.