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.

When Abdullah came to speak, he reiterated that he would stand by what he said in the House. “Yesterday in Parliament, they called every Kashmiri communal. They forgot that the yatra has been going on for the last 130 years... I told the Parliament that we will fight for our land till our last breath. We were fighting for our land and not against the Amarnath Yatra... I told them that you demolished Babri Masjid and committed massacre in Gujarat”.