Srinagar, Nov 20 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday hit back at PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti over her remark that he wielded a broom to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying nobody forms a government on the back of sweeping a road.

Attempting to silence all critics, Omar said he was not nominated by Prime Minister Modi, but by actor Salman Khan for the 'Swacch Bharat Abhiyan'.

"And whether I like it or not Salman Khan had many too many followers on Twitter for me to ignore. I mean who is foolish enough to believe that you can form a government by sweeping a road. And, if that was the case then, why is not Mehbooba sweeping the road. I nominated her. If she is that worried about me picking up the broom, then she should pick it up herself," said Omar.

"Nobody forms the government on the back of sweeping a road, you form the government on the back of work and support from the people, which, I hope, we will have," he added.

Targetting the ruling National Conference, Mehbooba had earlier this month said Omar wielded a broom as part of the ruling BJP's 'Swacch Bharat Abhiyan' and posted the picture on Facebook to please the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Omar also expressed confidence that his party would form the government in the state with a clear majority this time.

"Why should you speculate as to whether we will fall short of numbers or not?. As it is, when you see waves you don't see us at all. If you don't count us in the wave, how can you count us in government formation; you are contradicting yourself," said Omar.

"We are fighting this election on our own strength. We are hoping that the people will give us a mandate that is what we are working towards," he added.

Omar, who chose to contest from Beerwah and Sonawar assembly segments this time, categorically said he did not run away from his family bastion of Ganderbal.

"I did not run away from Ganderbal. I left with my dignity intact. I left as the sitting MLA of Ganderbal on the back of a victory, not on the back of a defeat. I left Ganderbal having done incredible amount of work in Ganderbal. I don't think any constituency has seen as much work as Ganderbal has seen," said Omar.

"I felt that after 40 years of electing a member of my family, it was time for Ganderbal to elect somebody other than a family member from the Sheikh Abdullah family," he added.

The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to be held in five phases from November 25 to December 20. The counting of votes will be held on December 23. (ANI)