Cong lacked numbers for rotation of CM's post: NC

After being blamed by the alliance partner of retaining chief minister's post for six years, the National Conference said the Congress surrendered seat as it did not have the adequate numbers.

After being blamed by the alliance partner of retaining chief minister's post for six years, the National Conference said the Congress surrendered seat as it did not have the adequate numbers.

Former chief minister and health minister in the UPA regime Ghulam Nabi Azad had recently blamed the NC for unpopularity of the government in the state.

He had also said that the CM's post should have been rotated and Omar Abdullah should not have continued as chief minister for six years.

"Azad is blaming his party leadership for a decision that the Congress high command as well as Azad were party to it,'' NC said in a statement.

"The Congress did not get the mandate for a rotational CM's seat in 2008 while the National Conference emerged as the single largest party with 28 MLAs as opposed to just 17 MLAs that the Congress had - so this decision was taken on logic and merit", NC spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu said.

"The National Conference has been a part of the coalition government with sincerity of purpose to serve the people of the state and has done so with grace. Such remarks at the end of the government's term are unfortunate, politically convenient and contrary to facts,'' he said.

The NC spokesman asked Azad if he would also like to attribute the Congress party's weakness in other states across the country to National Conference too.

"The Congress has held key cabinet portfolios in the coalition government for the last six years and if Azad Sahib wants to find misplaced excuses for his party's self-admitted and acknowledged weaknesses, our unsolicited advice is that he should find relevant and logical excuses that would at least have some possibility of being taken seriously by the voters", Mattu said.

Minister for finance and Ladakh affairs Abdul Rahim Rather on Monday also refuted the allegations made by minister for PHE Sham Lal Sharma against him, adding that it is an attempt to mislead the public opinion. He said the people are sagacious enough to see between the lines. He said the attempts of polarising the state on the eve of elections is not advisable at all as it is bound to vitiate the secular atmosphere of the state and create a wedge between the people of two regions.

"By whipping up passions, Sharma cannot endear himself to people, who know these attempts were nothing but playing to the galleries," Rather added. He termed the statement of Sharma as totally misconceived and far from truth.