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Congress will name Omar’s deputy soon: Moily

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Congress will name the deputy Chief Minister for Jammu and Kashmir any time now, party leader Veerappa Moily said here on Saturday.

Rejecting the suggestion that the Congress had handed over the government on a “platter” to the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir for a good six years, Mr. Moily said the priority for the party was to provide a stable government in the State.

“The decision was taken in the interest of the nation as the National Conference-led alliance with the Congress was the best solution to provide a stable government,” he said.

Under the post-poll alliance between the two parties, the National Conference will hold the post of the Chief Minister for the entire six-year term while the deputy Chief Minister will be of the Congress.

Omar Abdullah has already been named as the Chief Minister and the Congress is expected to name its deputy Chief Ministerial candidate by January 5 when the new government is formed in the State.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) took a firm decision to hold free and fair elections in the State and the Congress salutes the people for reposing unflinching faith in the alliance, Mr. Moily added.

“Extradite Prabakaran”

The Congress on Saturday reiterated its demand for extradition of LTTE chief V. Prabakaran, an accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Reacting to the “fall” of Kilinochchi — administrative and political headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — to Sri Lankan troops, Mr. Moily said here: “We do not want to mix the issue of terrorism by LTTE and the concerns of the Tamil ethnic groups. Sri Lankan fight against terrorism is their concern and we do not wish to interfere in their internal matter but we are concerned about the safety of the Tamil ethnic groups.”

Pointing out that it was for the External Affairs Ministry to comment on the developments in Sri Lanka, Mr. Moily said the Congress would continue to demand the extradition of Prabakaran in case he was captured.

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