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NC withdraws support from NDA
Srinagar, July 12: Ten months after losing power in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference today snapped ties with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre citing differences over handling of the Kashmir issue and communal violence in Gujarat.
Srinagar, July 12: Ten months after losing power in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference today snapped ties with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre citing differences over handling of the Kashmir issue and communal violence in Gujarat.
The unanimous decision of the National Conference, which has five members in the Lok Sabha, will have no impact on the Vajpayee government which still enjoys a comfortable majority.
Differences between the NDA and the NC over ties with Pakistan and a facilitatory role for former South African President Nelson Mandela in resolving Kashmir issue had led to the estrangement, NC president Omar Abdullah, who served as a minister in the Vajpayee government for four years, said.
On the post-Godhra developments in Gujarat, "We find ourselves diametrically opposed to the Central government," he told reporters here.
"It would have been hypocrisy to continue in the NDA when the NC was taking an opposite line on Kashmir issue. In particular on talks with separatists like Hurriyat Conference, the Centre and the NC no longer see eye to eye," Abdullah said.
Bureau Report
The unanimous decision of the National Conference, which has five members in the Lok Sabha, will have no impact on the Vajpayee government which still enjoys a comfortable majority.
Differences between the NDA and the NC over ties with Pakistan and a facilitatory role for former South African President Nelson Mandela in resolving Kashmir issue had led to the estrangement, NC president Omar Abdullah, who served as a minister in the Vajpayee government for four years, said.
On the post-Godhra developments in Gujarat, "We find ourselves diametrically opposed to the Central government," he told reporters here.
"It would have been hypocrisy to continue in the NDA when the NC was taking an opposite line on Kashmir issue. In particular on talks with separatists like Hurriyat Conference, the Centre and the NC no longer see eye to eye," Abdullah said.
Bureau Report