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“Now we will start a new method from Delhi on July 20 for restoration of statehood. Let the BJP tell us whether we will have to go to Trump and hold a dharna outside the White House. Until then, we will keep knocking on the doors of the national capital.”

This is what Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said at a public rally in Jammu on July 12. His message was unmistakable: “If we can’t get an assurance on the restoration of statehood from the national capital, should we then have to go to US President Donald Trump for it? We will hold protests outside the White House.”

With these remarks, Omar appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil his commitment to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. References to Trump, however, soon began to disappear from the media narrative after the BJP dismissed Omar’s remarks as an attempt to ‘internationalise’ the issue.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

From then on, no one in the ruling party or the loyalist media seemed willing to connect US President Donald Trump with Omar’s demand for the restoration of statehood. Instead, the BJP filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Omar over his allegation that National Conference MLAs were being offered Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore, along with ministerial posts, if they defected from the party.

The lure of cash has always been part of Operation Lotus. Similar allegations have surfaced in recent attempts to engineer defections in West Bengal and Maharashtra. The price of a defection appears to have been highest in Maharashtra, where Sanjay Raut claimed Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs were offered as much as Rs 50 crore to defect. The alleged going rate in West Bengal was Rs 40 crore. And, of course, every defection comes with a package that includes freedom from Enforcement Directorate/Central Bureau Investigation harassment, a........

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