‘My honour in your hands’: Omar’s emotional appeal to Ganderbal voters

STATE TIMES NEWS

GANDERBAL: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah Wednesday made a passionate appeal to the people of Ganderbal to vote for him, saying his honour is now in their hands.
Abdullah filed his nomination papers earlier from the constituency, marking the return of the NC leader to the constituency that he represented from 2008 to 2014 when he was the chief minister of the NC-Congress coalition government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He won the 2014 assembly polls from Beerwah assembly seat in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, leaving the Ganderbal seat to his then party colleague Ishfaq Jabbar.
Abdullah, who contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla constituency, had lost to independent candidate Engineer Rashid.
Addressing his party workers at the NC office here, Abdullah said he has come again to Ganderbal after 16 years with a hope to serve the people of the constituency.
“After 16 years, I am again placing myself before the people of Ganderbal with a hope that you will again let me serve as your MLA and servant,” he said.
In a bid to strike a chord with the voters, Abdullah made his over-five-minute speech largely in Kashmiri.
“The people of Ganderbal have suffered a lot after 2016, no one healed their wounds, no one addressed their difficulties. We will talk about all these issues in the coming two-three weeks,” he said. A teary-eyed Abdullah made a passionate appeal to the voters, seeking their support and vote, saying his honour was in their hands.
Making a rare gesture of holding his cap in his hands, the former chief minister appealed to the people of Ganderbal for a chance to serve them once again.
“Muin dastar (my turban), muin izzat (my honour), muin topi (my cap), are in your hands, ath kariw raech (uphold it),” he said as he held his cap in his hands.
“Just give me one opportunity to serve you, I am appealing to you with folded hands,” he added.
The rare, passionate moment sent his supporters into an emotional frenzy and they raised slogans of Omar Zindabad (long live Omar), assuring the NC leader to sacrifice their lives for him.
Calling upon his party workers to remain united, he said God willing; the party will taste success in the elections.