Omar Abdullah attacks Modi, says he suffers from ‘me, myself and I alone’ syndrome, praises ‘amazing’ Rahul Gandhi

Deprecating Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s attacks abroad on previous governments, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday saw it as a part of “that whole thing of about me, myself and I alone”.

However, Omar was in awe of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s transformation after a self-induced sabbatical. “The Rahul who left is not the Rahul who has came back,” Omar said on Rahul aggressively taking on the Modi government.

Abdullah, also a former minister of state for external affairs, said it was wrong for Modi to criticize the opposition during his foreign visits or say that people felt ashamed of being born Indian till he became Prime Minister.

“That is something that I don’t approve of. To go abroad and target your political opposition or to say that people were embarrassed to be an Indian till I came along as Prime Minister, I think it is wrong. It again is part of that whole thing of about being me, myself and I alone,” Abdullah told PTI.

He also took a dig at Modi, saying,”because the implication of that is he himself was embarrassed to be Indian until exactly one year ago. Which means that he did not get a visa to go to America but everywhere else that he went as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was actually embarrassed to show has passport.

“And he probably apologized to every immigration official saying ‘Look I am really sorry it is an Indian passport, main kyan karun, mujhe badi sharam aah rahi hai, lekin mujhe dikhana padega (what should I do, I am very ashamed but I have to show my passport)’. That is the implication of what he is saying, which is wrong.”

Going a step further, Omar said it is impossible to micro-manage India or run it as a “one man show”, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah commented today as the Modi government completes one year in office.

Omar recalled Modi’s stewardship of Gujarat and said, “Running a state and running a country are two very different things. It’s tough enough to micro-manage a state, even a state like Gujarat. It’s impossible to micro-manage a country and a country the size of India you can’t do it.

“And therefore if every decision has to be sort of looked at a micro level right up to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), it’s not going to happen,” Omar was quoted as saying by PTI.

When asked about the perception that PMO was micro- managing the affairs, Omar said, “Look I am not sitting in PMO. I am not in the Cabinet. I am just telling you that the perception one has talking to friends in government and in business picking up from what the media has to say, there is no doubt that decisions that needed to be taken are not being taken. And the general perception is that’s because the PMO…very heavy PMO is involved in all these decisions.”

Rahul Gandhi’s transformation ‘amazing’

Rahul Gandhi preferred silence during the UPA regime as speaking his mind would have meant either being critical of the Prime Minister or his mother, Omar Abdullah said and termed as “amazing transformation” the Congress vice president’s approach after his 56-day sabbatical.

“The Rahul who left is not the Rahul who has came back,” Omar said on Rahul aggressively taking on the Modi government.

“That’s an amazing transformation. I don’t know what it’s down to. I haven’t had the chance to meet up with him as he has been incredibly busy but I don’t know where he went and what he did…

“What this transformation is down to, I will try and learn because I guess there are lessons to be learnt for myself in that as well. I just hope that it doesn’t mean I have to disappear for 56 days. But it’s good. Hats off to him,” Omar said.

He said speaking for Rahul earlier was always going to be difficult. “For him to speak his mind would have meant either being critical of his prime minister or critical of his mother. And that was never going to be easy. And therefore I think his option was then to keep quiet and that allowed the perception to grow that he couldn’t speak and did not know what he wanted to say,” he said.

Rahul had a lot to say but he just wasn’t in a position to be able to say it which is the advantage of being in the opposition where one just gets to speak his or her mind, he said.

Omar hoped that Rahul will be able to sustain this momentum till the next general elections.

“The question which people are asking and I am sure he will really prove them wrong is if he will be able to sustain it. People are wondering whether this is going to be splash in the pan…Two months, three months, four months and then nothing.

“I think, from what I know of him, now that he has set his mind, this is what he will have till next general elections,” he said.