Srinagar, Sept 29 (KNS): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the Election Commission “gave West Bengal to the BJP as a gift” and took a swipe at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying he should be given the Bharat Ratna and made President after two years.
Omar was responding to questions from reporters about the BJP’s remarks that Kumar should be awarded the Padma Bhushan.
“Why should he stay there? Give him Bharat Ratna. How many years are left? Two years are left for the election of the President. Make him the President,” Omar said.
He said the Election Commission should review its functioning in view of allegations being raised against it.
“The Election Commission should do some soul-searching. It is not as if all the opposition parties are against the Election Commission. No political party has brought the evidence. The evidence has come forward through the investigation of the newspaper,” he said.
“Instead of trying to hide it, I think the Election Commission should improve its work. We should try to avoid such allegations,” Omar added.
Referring to the election commission, he said, “They have done so much for the BJP. They gave West Bengal to the BJP as a gift.”
Asked about External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks that India-China relations were better in 2026 than in 2024-25, Omar said Jaishankar was “not wrong”.
“Where are those relations that were not visible after Galwan? People were being told to throw Chinese TVs from their balconies. Today, we are not only meeting each other, but also talking to each other. And this is how it should be,” he said.
Omar said better relations with neighbouring countries and other nations were in India’s interest.
“We have always said that the better our relations are with our neighbours and other countries, the better it is for us,” he said.
“If our relations are good with countries like China, it is good for the country,” he added.
He said India had strained relations with several other countries, including in its neighbourhood, but declined to name them.
“But not only China, there are many other countries with which our relations are not good. In our neighbourhood, Bangladesh, there are many other countries, which we can talk about, but I will not name them because you will start jumping on that topic,” Omar said.
On Assembly session, Omar said the proceedings had been fruitful for the government, while declining to comment on the Opposition’s assessment.
“It has been very fruitful for us. I cannot talk about the opposition. I will talk about the treasury benches. We were not expecting that it would be such a fruitful session for us,” he said.
Omar said the government had faced statements before the session that it would be challenged in the House, but said the BJP did not remain present when it had an opportunity to question the government.
“Before the session, we were being threatened that we will take the government by force in the Assembly, that we will do this, we will do that. But when we got the opportunity to do that, they did not stay in the House,” he said.
He said the BJP had an opportunity during the discussion on the statehood resolution to seek an answer from the government on its record of the past two years.
“The BJP had a good opportunity on the statehood bill to ask us for an answer on the record of the last two years. They did not take part. And our statehood resolution was passed,” Omar said.
He said bills concerning ease of doing business and decriminalisation were also passed.
“Today, the important bills that I wanted to pass, especially on the ease of doing business and decriminalization, were also passed,” he said.
Omar said the final day of the session would include a discussion on the report concerning the Jal Shakti Department.
“Tomorrow is the last day. The report that has been made on the Jal Shakti department, tomorrow there will be a discussion on that and the House’s proceedings will be over,” he said.
Asked about the pensioners’ bill, Omar said that the bill had been passed but said the issue of legislators’ salaries remained unresolved.
“No, the pensioners’ bill was passed, but our salaries were not paid,” he said.
He said there had been pressure from different parties on the issue and referred to a letter signed by almost all BJP members seeking a salary hike.
“I don’t know if my party colleagues shared it with you or not. Look at that letter, in which there are signatures of almost all honourable members of the BJP asking for a salary hike,” he said.
“This is their habit. They want a salary and also want to do politics. I will not allow them to do that,” Omar added.(KNS)
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