SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah sought greater participation from the people of the state in the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls saying he is “not accountable” to those who stayed away from the democratic exercise.
“The only people who suffer from the boycott are the voters. Because the only way you can get the accountability is by participating. When you vote you can demand accountability, when you don’t vote then who are you accountable to,” Omar told reporters at the sidelines of a function here.
He said people can demand accountability from the government only when they participate.
“I am accountable to people when they vote. If people don’t vote, how am I accountable to them? People can demand only when they participate. And I think that is an important lesson,” Omar said.
The chief minister said he was not bothered whether people vote for his National Conference or any other party but they should come out and vote.
“I am not so much bothered by the fact whether people vote for National Conference or not. I am more bothered about the fact that people should come out and vote. Because as the chief minister or as any elected representative, clearly the extent to which I am responsible is directly proportional to the extent to which the people participate. The more participation the more accountability,” Omar said.
He, however, said that does not mean that government works only for those people who have voted in the elections.
“How can you possibly demand accountability when you have not participated. That having been said what work we do, we never make it out that this work is only for those people who voted. When we build bridges, we don’t tell them that you can walk on the bridge if you have voted. When we work, we work for everyone. But I will definitely say that you can make us more accountable when you participate,” he said. (PTI)