SRINADAR, JUN 26: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday dismissed former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s allegations of “backdoor appointments” as baseless, hitting back with a sharp counter that her own party’s record was far from clean.
“Ulta chor kotwal ko dante,” CM Omar told reporters during his visit to Zadibal, using the Hindi proverb to suggest that Mehbooba was accusing others of what her own party was guilty of.
The Chief Minister said the allegations levelled by the PDP president were unfounded and challenged her to provide proof. “I am ready to respond if any allegation is backed by evidence. Give me one name of a backdoor appointee under my government, and I will clarify. But I will not respond to baseless charges,” he said.
CM Omar pointed to alleged irregularities during the PDP-BJP coalition rule. “Have we forgotten that Mehbooba Mufti’s maternal uncle Sartaj Madni’s son was appointed through a backdoor and later removed following court orders?” he asked. He also referred to alleged backdoor appointments in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank during that tenure, which are still under investigation by probe agencies.
CM Omar further announced that in the coming days, two of his ministers would address the press and present all relevant facts before the public.
The remarks came a day after Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday alleged that the National Conference government had made 25,000 “backdoor appointments” in the union territory.
“There are about 25,000 backdoor entries in 25 months (of their government). I have orders, but I do not want to disclose their identities for their protection. Also, no other candidates were interviewed,” Mufti told reporters here.
She said these were not ordinary posts, but vacancies in government departments across Jammu and Kashmir, which the government “gave to their ministers, MLAs, alliance partners. I think the BJP also has a share, that is why they are silent and are not raising any hue and cry over it”.
Mehbooba, a former chief minister, said her party received complaints about these appointments, alleging that the government took two to three lakh rupees from the candidates. “Around 200 private outsourcing agencies were used for this. For some time, a website remained open where candidates were asked to fill out forms. Once they submitted the form, the site would close,” she claimed.
The PDP president alleged that such appointments were made without any advertisements and demanded an immediate stop to “backdoor appointments”. “Such backdoor appointments should be stopped, and there should be action if Omar is not himself patronising it,” she said.
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