Amid growing discontent among INDIA bloc allies, National Conference vice president and Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the Congress party should justify its leadership role in the bloc instead of taking it for granted.
“By virtue of being the single largest party (Congress) in Parliament, and also having the leader of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the fact that they have a pan-India footprint, which no other party can lay claim to, they are natural sort of leaders of an opposition movement,” Abdullah told news agency PTI in an interview.
“There is a sense of disquiet among some of the allies because they feel the Congress is “not doing enough to justify it or to earn it or to keep it. That’s something the Congress might wish to consider,” he added.
Praising former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Abdullah said: “When the INDIA bloc comes together, she plays an important leadership role.”
He also suggested that the Congress party should raise the issue of restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Conference vice president stressed the need for sustained interactions beyond the electoral cycle, noting that the alliance’s current approach appeared to be sporadic and ineffective.
“Our existence can’t just be about six months before Parliament elections. Our existence has to be something more than that. The last time we met was when the Lok Sabha results had only just come out. There has been no formal or informal sort of work that has been done for the INDIA bloc,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of establishing a structured communication framework.
“You need to have a programme of regular interactions,” he explained, adding “not that you just come alive once Lok Sabha elections are announced and suddenly start talking and trying to work things out”.
“If we had a more regular process of interaction, perhaps these smaller irritants wouldn’t assume larger proportions,” he added.