Omar Abdullah accuses BJP of 'politics of revenge' in J&K
Synopsis
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah came out swinging on Friday — dismissing BJP's defection talk, accusing the party of engineering the delimitation process in its favour, and tying the long-pending cabinet expansion directly to the Centre's refusal to restore statehood. His Tamil Nadu remarks added a national dimension to what is fast becoming a multi-front political confrontation.
Key Takeaways
J&K CM Omar Abdullah accused BJP of playing the "politics of revenge" in the Union Territory on Friday .
He dismissed Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma's defection threat, saying "there are no Eknath Shindes in the National Conference." Abdullah alleged the delimitation exercise in J&K was designed to benefit BJP and its supporters.
He linked the delay in cabinet expansion to the Centre's refusal to restore statehood to J&K, not to any fear of defections.
On Tamil Nadu , he said TVK's Vijay should be invited to form the government, citing the Vajpayee 1996 precedent.
Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader in the Union Territory Assembly of playing the "politics of revenge", taking sharp aim at the Leader of Opposition over remarks about possible defections in the ruling National Conference (NC).
Abdullah's Broadside Against BJP
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah alleged that Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma is angling to somehow occupy the Chief Minister's chair in Jammu & Kashmir. Responding to Sharma's suggestion that defections could rock the ruling NC, Abdullah was dismissive: "The LOP should remember that elections are not going to be held here before 2029. There are no Eknath Shindes in the National Conference. Nobody is going to the party."
The reference to Eknath Shinde — the senior Shiv Sena leader whose split brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra — was pointed. Abdullah argued that Shinde's defection was engineered with BJP's backing, and urged citizens to read the LOP's statement in that light. "People must understand the intentions of the BJP through the statement made by the LOP," he said, adding: "We have already suffered enough at their hands."
Delimitation, Statehood, and Cabinet Expansion
Abdullah escalated his criticism to broader grievances, alleging that the delimitation exercise in J&K was carried out "only with the intention of helping the BJP and its supporters." He accused the Centre of using statehood as a pressure point, saying the BJP does not appear to have any genuine intention of restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir.
On the long-pending cabinet expansion in J&K, Abdullah pushed back against speculation that the delay stems from fear of defections. "Cabinet expansion here is not being done because they haven't given us the statehood, and there is no truth to the rumour that we are afraid of defections and that is why cabinet expansion is delayed," he asserted.
Tamil Nadu Remarks: No Case for President's Rule
Asked about the political situation in Tamil Nadu, Abdullah said there is no justification for imposing President's Rule in the southern state. He argued that TVK's Vijay, as the leader of the largest party in Tamil Nadu, should be invited to form the government. "If he cannot then prove his majority in the Assembly, he will resign," Abdullah said.
He drew a parallel with the 1996 precedent, recalling that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was invited by the President to form the government at the Centre as leader of the single-largest party. "When he was not able to prove his numbers in the Lok Sabha, that government fell after 13 days." Abdullah questioned why a "different yardstick" was being applied in Tamil Nadu simply because the BJP failed to win the numbers in elections there.
What's Next
With the J&K Assembly's next elections unlikely before 2029, the political battle between the NC-led government and BJP's opposition appears set to intensify — particularly over statehood restoration, cabinet formation, and delimitation grievances that Abdullah has now placed squarely in the public domain.
Point of View
Not a spontaneous reaction. By invoking Eknath Shinde, he is signalling that J&K's NC understands exactly how BJP operates against coalition partners — and is pre-emptively inoculating its MLAs against similar overtures. The statehood-cabinet expansion linkage is also a shrewd political move: it frames any governance delay as the Centre's responsibility, not the state government's weakness. His Tamil Nadu comments suggest Abdullah sees himself as a national voice for non-BJP governments facing Centre pressure — a positioning that goes well beyond J&K's immediate politics.
NationPress
12 May 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Omar Abdullah mean by BJP playing 'politics of revenge'?
Abdullah alleged that BJP and its J&K Assembly leader Sunil Sharma are attempting to destabilise the ruling National Conference government through defection threats and political pressure, comparing their tactics to those used against the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra. He said the people of J&K must understand BJP's intentions through such statements.
Why has cabinet expansion in J&K been delayed?
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that the cabinet expansion has not taken place because the Centre has not yet restored statehood to Jammu & Kashmir. He denied that the delay is linked to any fear of defections within the National Conference.
What did Abdullah say about the Tamil Nadu political situation?
Abdullah said there is no justification for President's Rule in Tamil Nadu, and that TVK's Vijay, as leader of the largest party, should be invited to form the government. He cited the 1996 precedent of Atal Bihari Vajpayee being given the same opportunity at the Centre.
When are the next J&K Assembly elections due?
According to Abdullah, elections in Jammu & Kashmir are not due before 2029, making the current National Conference government's tenure secure in the near term despite BJP's defection talk.
What is the Eknath Shinde reference about?
Abdullah used Eknath Shinde — whose split of the Shiv Sena brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra — as a cautionary example, alleging that BJP facilitated that defection. He said no such figures exist within the National Conference.
