Congress must justify INDIA bloc leadership role, not take it for granted, says Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister on Friday urged the Congress to justify its leadership role in the Opposition INDIA bloc “instead of taking it for granted”, PTI reported.

Abdullah, whose National Conference is a part of the INDIA bloc at the national level, made the remarks amid increased discussions within the alliance about its leadership.

In an interview to PTI, Abdullah said that the Congress was the “natural” leader of the alliance “by virtue of being the single largest party in Parliament and also having the Leader of Opposition in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha”.

He added that the Congress also had a “pan-India footprint” that no other party from the alliance could lay claim to.

“Yet there is a sense of disquiet among some of the allies because they feel the Congress is not doing enough to justify it or to earn it or to keep it,” Abdullah told PTI. “That’s something the Congress might wish to consider.”

The chief minister also said that there was a need for a sustained dialogue among members of the Opposition alliance beyond the electoral cycle.

“Our existence can’t just be about six months before Parliament elections,” he said. “The last time we met was when the Lok Sabha results [June 4] had just...