Srinagar/IBNS/UNI: National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah Thursday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold an assembly election along with the Lok Sabha poll in Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah said if the BJP believes in 'one nation, one election’, then they should start from Jammu and Kashmir.

“The BJP and the government have been talking about ‘one nation, one election’ and the report is ready. If these people believe in ‘one country, one election’ then it should start with Jammu and Kashmir and Assembly elections should also be held here along with Parliament polls.

"If they don’t believe in what they are saying, then what we can say as cheating people is their old habit,” he told reporters in Srinagar after his return from Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the interim Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the former Chief Minister said people will not cast their votes based on this Budget.

"It was not a full Budget and that will be presented after the elections. We knew they would not impose any new taxes, and they have not. People will not cast their votes based on this Budget, they will decide on what they have done or not done in the last five years," he said.

Meanwhile, NC General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar Thursday led party functionaries in a rousing reception to Omar Abdullah on his return from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah pilgrimage.

The NC Vice President, who had embarked on the Umrah pilgrimage, returned to Srinagar in the late afternoon.