Amid the high-octane political drama over the dissolution of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, BJP leader Ram Madhav and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah got engaged into a full-blown Twitter war on Thursday. After alleging a Pakistani hand in the altered equation between sworn enemies Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, Madhav, however, waved a white flag this afternoon. His decision to retreat came moments after Abdullah dared him to prove his allegations.
The fresh row started this morning with Madhav accusing Omar Abdullah's National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of joining hands on "cross-border" instructions. The BJP leader was justifying Governor Satya Pal Malik's decision to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir, saying the "fresh instructions from across the border prompted the governor to look into the whole issue".
"PDP and NC boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border. Probably they had fresh instructions from across the border to come together and form the government. What they did prompt the governor to look into the whole issue," Madhav told news agency ANI.
Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Mehbooba, Omar take digs at Governor's fax machine
Following Abdullah's challenge to prove his allegations, Madhav took his comments back but did not forget to take yet another jibe at him. Mocking at the altered equation between the PDP and the NC, Madhav advised both the parties fight next elections together.
"Just landed @Aizawl n saw this. Now that you deny any external pressure I take back my comment, but, now that u proved it was genuine love btw NC n PDP that prompted a failed govt formation attempt, you should fight next elections together. 😂 Mind you it is a political comment, not personal," Madhav wrote on Twitter.
Read | From unexpected grand alliance to Governor's move to dissolve Assembly: Here is how the entire Kashmir drama unfolded
Omar Abdullah had dared the BJP leader to prove his allegation, saying agencies like the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), National Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau were at his disposal.
"Your allegations are an insult to thousands of my workers... 3,000 workers have sacrificed for this nation. More of my party workers have sacrificed than your party ever has. Don't lecture us on sacrifice and question what we have done," Mr Abdullah said at a press conference in Srinagar, demanding an apology.
"You come along with nothing but baseless allegations and say whatever you like with no evidence of it. If you have guts, prove it."
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an intense political drama on Wednesday which finally resulted in the dissolution of the state Legislative Assembly. Hours after Mehbooba Mufti's claim to form a coalition government with rivals, the National Conference and the Congress, Governor Satya Pal Malik announced the dissolution of the Assembly. The move crashed all the dreams of Mufti and company to return to power in the Valley.
Read | Centre behind dissolution of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, says Ghulam Nabi Azad
In between Mufti's announcement and Governor's decision to dissolve the Assembly, a new entrant - Jammu Kashmir Peoples' Conference (JKPC) chairman Sajjad Lone, came out of nowhere and staked claim to form the government with the support of BJP and 18 other MLAs.
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