'Swear on Quran, didn't seek alliance with BJP in 2024 for statehood': Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday refuted allegations made by the BJP that he sought an alliance with the ruling party at the Centre in 2024 for the restoration of statehood.

"I swear on the Holy Quran that I didn't seek an alliance with the BJP in 2024 for Statehood or for any other reason. Unlike Sunil Sharma, I don't tell lies for a living," Abdullah said in a post on X.

The chief minister was responding to claims made by the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma, who said that Abdullah approached the BJP in Delhi, willing to ally with them in exchange for statehood.

Sharma has earlier claimed that Abdullah had approached the BJP in 2014 as well to form an alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir after the polls had thrown up a hung verdict.

"In 2024, he again went to Delhi and offered to form the government with the BJP if the statehood was restored. His offer was rejected, and he was told that we have been given a mandate to sit in the opposition. You (Abdullah) should go to a mosque or a religious place, take the holy Quran in your hand and swear that you did not go to Delhi for government formation. He (Abdullah) won't do it ... But we are ready to say on oath wherever you want," Sharma told reporters after an election meeting in Budgam.

Abdullah has been steadily attacking the ruling party at the Centre in recent days, saying it was only his National Conference that was fighting the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier today, while addressing an election rally in support of BJP candidate Syed Mohsin in Budgam, Sharma had dared called on Abdullah to publicly affirm that there were no hidden agreements with Delhi.

Sharma claimed that after the 2014 assembly elections, Abdullah made attempts to ally with the BJP. "However, our leadership, guided by principles and national integrity, refused such opportunistic overtures," Sharma said.

Additionally, he accused the National Conference (NC) of resorting to deceit and double standards to obstruct the BJP's rise in Kashmir. "The NC is leaving no stone unturned to block the wave of change, but people have seen through their politics of hypocrisy," he added.