Omar Abdullah accuses BJP-led govt of fielding independents to silence him

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday claimed that the BJP-ruled Centre was fielding independent candidates against him in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections in a bid to silence him.

"I always knew that Delhi would want to silence me in some way but I never thought that they would go to this extent. In Baramulla (Lok sabha elections), when a person (Sheikh Abdul Rashid) stood against me in the polls, having filed the papers while in jail, he recorded his message from jail and sought votes based on emotions. He defeated me in the elections," he said.

"I did not see it as something worrisome," Abdullah told election rallies in the Ganderbal Assembly segment from where is contesting the polls.

The former chief minister said after the results of Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, he thought luck was on Rashid's side and "it was my bad luck".

"But when I decided to contest (assembly) polls from Ganderbal, reports started pouring in that another citizen (Sarjan Ahm