National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using hate to win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, PTI reported. The elections are expected to be held in February or March 2022.

Speaking to party workers in Jammu, Abdullah urged people to fight hatred in order to save both Jammu and Kashmir and the country. He said that India’s disintegration cannot be stopped if hatred continues to grow.

“We have to fight communalism,” Abdullah said. “We have to bring down the wall of hatred being created between Hindus and Muslims.”

He added: “Last election was also won in Balakot. Today, they are doing the same thing. Today, they are again spreading hate even in Jammu to win elections in UP.”

The National Conference leader was referring to the air strikes near the Pakistani town on February 26, 2019.

Abdullah also questioned whether the Line of Control changed after the air strike, and whether India got any of its territory back from Pakistan, ANI reported.

“Line is still there,” he said. “We dropped our own aircraft there. What did we get?”

On February 26, 2019, air strikes on a camp of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad were carried out in Pakistan’s Balakot area. This was in response to a terrorist attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14, which killed 40 soldiers.

The National Conference chief on Thursday also questioned the BJP’s claim of having restored peace in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

He said that the recent killings of civilians in the Union Territory have shattered the saffron party’s claims about the situation in the Valley, PTI reported.

So far, 12 civilians have been killed in Kashmir in the past two weeks. The Resistance Front, believed to be an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for most of the civilian deaths.