Omar Abdullah has come a long way in replacing his flamboyant father Dr Farooq Abdullah as the new poster boy of the National Conference (NC).
Omar Abdullah has come a long way in replacing his flamboyant father Dr Farooq Abdullah as the new poster boy of the National Conference (NC).
Connecting with the grassroots was one of the biggest challenges in the career of the 38-year-old tech-savvy, ski-loving J&K chief minister, but Omar responded beautifully to the challenge. So confident is the chief minister of his appeal among the masses that nowadays he is seen trying to revive the magic of his legendary grandfather Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah.
"
Main yahin aap ko na hasane aur na rulane aaya hoon. Main janta hoon aap ke bahut masle hain jo door karne ki zooorat hain. Aur ye aap ke haath mein hain. Hal (plough, symbol of NC)
ke button ko dabayein aur khushalli layein. (I have not come here to make you laugh or weep. I know you have problems which need to be addressed. This is in your hands. You press the button of plough for prosperity)," said Omar in Urdu, evoking zaroor (yes) from the crowd gathered on the banks of Dal Lake.
People had assembled since morning to discuss their problems with their CM, who arrived two hours late.
After sometime, Omar Abdullah's car came into view and out stepped the designer-clad chief minister. The stage managers felt a rush of excitement. "Aawa Aawa Pader Sher (Here comes the lion)", shouted one speaker. But there was no more than a murmur from the crowd.But Omar's men had prepared for that too.
His campaign managers had planted several party workers in the crowd who would raise the pitch when the need arose. Women started reciting folklore to welcome the CM and others shouted slogans to charge up the atmosphere. Omar, in the end, emerged as his own stage manager. His speech, laced with barbs at PDP, had people interacting with him after every sentence. "How can I ask people to vote when I stay away from voting?
The same applies to Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba who have not voted in Anantnag," said Omar evoking a loud ‘shame shame’ from the crowd.
The CM has been addressing three rallies a day — in a chopper or a car. Sometimes he revives the ghost of the BJP and the RSS to caution people against the PDP and sometimes he taunts Mehbooba for not being able to speak in Parliament. Sometimes, he speaks in Kashmiri, which has people in splits.
"Omar spoke his heart out in Parliament last year and did us proud . His speech was one of the best in our history," said Dr Mehboob Beg, an NC leader.
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