No party can hope to beat the BJP until 2024: Omar
As the Bharatiya Janata Party raced ahead in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and looked strong in Manipur and Goa too, Omar Abdullah, a prominent face of the national Opposition from Jammu and Kashmir, gave his verdict on Twitter. The former chief minister and National Conference leader predicted that, at this rate, Opposition parties could forget about winning the general elections till 2024.
He went on to say voters needed to be offered a credible “alternative” instead of just criticism of the ruling party at the Centre. As the tweet went viral, attracting both criticism and glee, the former chief minister qualified his initial statement:
Abdullah added, “I've said this before and I'll say it again the voter needs to be given an alternative agenda that is based on what we will do better.” He also asked how almost all analysts had missed the BJP “tsunami” in Uttar Pradesh.
The National Conference is currently in Opposition at the Centre as well as in Jammu and Kashmir. The party was part of the United Progressive Alliance. During the early 2000s, it was also an ally in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government. In 2012, however, Abdullah had ruled out joining the BJP-led coalition again, saying the “National Conference and the NDA were unnatural allies”.
