Omar takes jibe at Rijiju for passing off Srinagar hotel picture as apple orchard

Srinagar, Oct 9: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday took a jibe at the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju for passing off pictures of an apple tree in The Lalit Palace Hotel, Srinagar, as photos from an orchard in Kashmir. “Very nice, Kashmiri apples are the best & The Lalit Palace, Srinagar has some excellent trees. Thank you for promoting our produce,” Mr Abdullah, who is the working president of National Conference (NC), wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter. Mr Abdullah was reacting to a tweet by Mr Rijiju, which had four pictures, with a caption which read, “While visiting Apple Orchard the local Kashmiris urged me to share these pictures with the public. I promised them.” However, the pictures tweeted by the Union Minster is apparently of highly guarded The Lalit Palace Hotel in Srinagar and has police officers from state Home Department accompanying him. Mr Rijiju was on a two-day visit to Kashmir Valley, where he was briefed about the overall security situation. He also witnessed a live concert of Bollywood singer-composer Adnan Sami on the bank of Dal Lake here. UNI