After his impassionate speech in the Lok Sabha, National Conference president Omar Abdullah returned to the Valley on Wednesday. And when he addressed a rally in this frontier village, it was clear that his party was trying to revive its aggressive Kashmir-centric political agenda for the upcoming Assembly election.

Abdullah, however, made it clear that the NC’s vote in favour of the UPA Government does not mean that the party would align with Congress. “If we had any such plans, we would have supported the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government during its vote of confidence,” he told the gathering. “That would have made sense as we would have the advantage of being part of the Government when the state was all set to go to polls”.

Abdullah had come in for praise for his frank and honest two-minute speech during the trust vote debate. During the speech, the Lok Sabha MP admitted that he should have quit the NDA Government after the Gujarat riots, saying “it was a mistake to stand alongside the BJP, a communal party”.

The function, held in the memory of legendry Kashmiri politician Ghulam Nabi Wani alias Sogami sahib, was Abdullah’s first rally after the trust vote. He flew from Delhi early on Wednesday and then drove straight to this remote village in Kupwara district.

The NC leaders used the buzz over Abdullah’s trust vote speech to push forth their case. NC provincial president Mehboob Beig and former minister and senior leader Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan spoke in detail about Abdullah’s short speech, preparing the ground for their leader to take the stage.

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