National Conference on Saturday termed the attachment of Dr Farooq Abdullah’s properties by ED as “political vendetta meant to settle political score.”
In a joint statement, party leadership including General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar, Provincial Presidents Nasir Aslam Wani, Devender Singh Rana, senior leaders Mohammad Shafi Uri, AR Rather, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Mian Altaf, Mubarak Gul, party MPs Mohammad Akbar Lone, Hasnain Masoodi, SS Salathia, Ajay Sadhotra, Qamar Ali Akhoon lambasted the “series of attacks on the party leadership.”
Calling ED’s “targeting” of Dr Farooq Abdullah, the leaders said such acts were unwarranted and unjustified. “There is no evidence worth the name on record to justify the order of attachment of the properties. These ancestral assets had been acquired decades back, and there is no justification why these should be attached,” the leaders said. “It is nothing except political vendetta and an attempt to silence the leadership and dissuade it from voicing support to political aspirations of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” the NC leaders said.
“The list of properties includes two ancestral properties in which Dr Farooq has a minor share. It reveals the desperation of the BJP which is using its agencies to settle political scores.” “The sudden move against Dr Farooq has been taken to divert attention from the ground that BJP seems to be losing in J&K,” the leaders said adding, “It’s not a coincidence that the BJP ordered this action on the day the DDC polls ended because they know how badly they have fared and are now extracting their revenge in advance of the drubbing they will receive at the hands of people of J&K,” the statement said.