Omar Abdullah Mocks BJP's Award Suggestion for CEC, Urges Poll Panel Introspection

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday ridiculed the BJP's suggestion that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be given a Padma award, saying the official deserved the country's highest civilian honour instead for delivering West Bengal to the party.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a buyer-seller meet, Abdullah questioned why the recognition should stop at a Padma Bhushan. He said Kumar should be given the Bharat Ratna, and suggested that with a presidential election due in a year or two, he could even be made President, given what Abdullah described as his services to the BJP.

The chief minister also turned his attention to the Election Commission of India, saying it ought to do some soul-searching. He noted that the charges against the poll panel were not levelled by any political party, but had emerged through a newspaper investigation.

Abdullah said it was not without reason that opposition parties are arrayed against the Election Commission today. Rather than trying to cover up the matter, he said, the poll body should improve its functioning and ensure that such allegations and actions do not recur.

Asked about the 2029 assembly elections in the Union Territory, he said the date was far off and that the intervening years should be dealt with first.

On a separate question, Abdullah said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was not wrong about the improvement in India's relations with China. He recalled that ties after the Galwan clash had been barely visible, with people being urged to throw Chinese televisions off their balconies, and said the two sides were now at least meeting and holding decent dialogues.

Abdullah said his party has always backed better relations with neighbours and other nations, as this benefits the country. He pointed to Bangladesh as an example of a neighbour with whom ties are not in good shape, and referred to other countries as well without naming them.