Jammu, Feb 20: Chief Minister (CM) Omar Abdullah today stated that it was for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clarify its stance vis-a-vis presumptions about foreign interference in elections in India.
He was responding to media queries, after attending an event at University of Jammu, about recent development with regard to a comment by the US President Donald Trump about USAID grants of USD 21 million for “voter turnout in India” and his (Trump’s) insinuations about “foreign interference in Indian elections.”
“Yes, it (foreign interference in elections) should not happen. So far there is no evidence about foreign interference (in Indian elections). If it is there, it should be brought to the fore. In this case (insinuations), the Election Commission would have to clarify if there was any foreign interference in our elections,” the Chief Minister said.
“So far, we presume that our elections have been free and fair. But if such insinuations have come to the fore then the Election Commission should come out clean on this account and give clarification,” he said.
When his comment was sought on Trump’s statement that seemingly money, at the behest of the previous US administration, was aimed at “electing somebody else” (in India), CM Omar said, “This is up to America as aid is theirs. They want to give it to whom or not to give it. That’s their call.”
“Where is the scope for us to make a decision on that?” he asked. With regard to a question about the brutal ragging of a Kashmiri MBBS student in a Karnataka college, the Chief Minister said that he had spoken to the Karnataka Chief Minister on that account.
