Congress not part of J&K Govt: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Nov 22: Stating that Congress was not part of the National Conference-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday said that the resolution bought by his government had not been rejected anywhere, and had prompted a response from the Prime Minister and Home Minister.

“This is a response to those who say there is nothing in the resolution. If there is nothing in our resolution, then why are the PM and Home Minister talking about it,” the CM told media persons here. “No one rejected the resolution. That is the biggest thing. A door is open. We will see what happens in the future.”

Responding to queries about Congress President Malikarjun Kharge’s comments, he said: “Congress is not a part of our government. Congress has helped us from the outside.”

CM Omar said, “Now the government has brought this resolution. Except for members of the BJP, all members of the J&K Assembly supported and passed this resolution with an overwhelming majority. Congress was also a part of it. Now it is obvious that the way BJP targeted Congress in Jharkhand and Mumbai, they want to dilute it, but their words cannot dilute the resolution.”

He said: “This is an answer to those people who said that there is nothing in this resolution. If there was nothing in this resolution, then why would the PM and Home Minister mention this resolution again and again? It is obvious that there is something in this.”

The CM dismissed attempts to dilute the resolution’s significance, saying, “Now Congress was forced to try to dilute this. But nothing is diluted by their words. The J&K Assembly has passed this with an overwhelming majority.”

On the issue of prisoner release, he outlined the administrative complexities saying: “To release the prisoners, we need the support of the government. As for now, security, policing, and law and order are in the hands of the central government, it is under the control of LG.”

CM Omar promised a more nuanced approach to verification processes, saying, “The way people were harassed, the way the verification was weaponised, there has been a lot of restriction on that since we have assumed power. There will be more leniency in this in the future.”

He said: “We have been trying to get J&K statehood back from day one. We know that there are some things that people want to progress on. However, we cannot do that in a UT. Along with that, the first thing is the resolution. The biggest thing is that the resolution was not rejected. The resolution was passed.”