Srinagar, Oct 24: Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his reported remarks asking party MLAs not to press him for ministerial berths, saying the comments were “contemptuous and disdainful” and belittled the political class.
In a post on X titled “The Cult of Self”, Lone said he had watched Omar speaking to the media after meeting Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and expressed dismay over the manner in which the Chief Minister addressed the issue of ministerial positions.
“I honestly can’t believe that these MLAs are comfortable with such belittling and humiliating remarks,” Lone wrote, adding that if the Chief Minister was unable to accommodate the legislators in the cabinet, he could spare them public humiliation.
Lone acknowledged that the issue concerned the National Conference’s internal affairs but said such remarks had wider implications.
“You may direct the derision at your own members but it invariably belittles the political class,” he said.
He questioned how elected representatives could face their constituents when they were treated as “unworthy and incapable school boys”.
Referring to Tasha Eurich’s book The Power of Self-Awareness in a Self-Deluded World, Lone said “somebody desperately needs to read it”, adding that “somebody is certainly self-deluded”.
Quoting the author, he wrote: “The least competent people are usually the most confident in their abilities.”
Addressing elected MLAs, Lone urged them not to allow the political class to be subjected to such belittlement.
“We deserve better,” he said.
