Omar promises statehood restoration resolution in first cabinet meeting

Srinagar, Oct 9: National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah Wednesday said that the NC-Congress government will pass a resolution demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood in its first cabinet meeting.

“After the formation of the government, I hope that in the first cabinet meeting, the cabinet will pass a resolution impressing upon the Centre to restore statehood. The government should then take that resolution to the Prime Minister,” he told reporters here.

Omar expressed hope that the government in J&K will be able to run smoothly unlike in Delhi.

“There is a difference between us and Delhi. Delhi was never a state. No one promised Delhi statehood. J&K was a state before 2019. We have been promised the restoration of statehood by the PM, the Home Minister, and other senior ministers, who said three steps will be taken in J&K: delimitation, election, and statehood. Delimitation has happened, and the elections have now taken place as well. So, only the statehood remains which should be restored,” he said.

On how important was the need for coordination between the new J&K government and Centre, the NC leader said nothing can be achieved by having a confrontation with New Delhi.

“Let the government be formed first. This question should be posed to the chief minister. There should be a cordial relationship with New Delhi. My advice to him (CM) will be that we cannot address any issues by having a confrontation with the Centre,” he said. “It is not that we will accept BJP’s politics, or that the BJP will accept our politics. We will continue to oppose the BJP, but it is not our compulsion to oppose the Centre. It will be for the benefit of J&K and for the people of J&K to have a good relationship with the Centre.”

Omar said that the people of J&K had not voted for a confrontation.

“The people have voted because they want employment, they want development, they want the restoration of statehood, they want to address electricity and other issues and that redressal will not happen by having a confrontation with New Delhi,” he said.

Omar said that the NC would call a meeting of the legislative party on Thursday to start the process of government formation.

“I have spoken to NC President Farooq Abdullah and the party will call a legislative party meeting on Thursday. After that, there will be a meeting of the alliance partners where the alliance leader will be elected and then we will go to the Raj Bhavan to stake the claim for government formation,” he said. “I hope the new government is in place in the next few days.”

On whether the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be a part of the coalition government, the NC leader said there were no discussions over that as of now.

“There has been no approach made to us by the PDP. We have not approached them. Given the results of this election, which I think is quite a setback to them, I think at the moment I can understand that there must be some internal discussion going on,” he said. “At some point in time, if a channel of communication opens, we will sit down and talk to them. But it is not a priority for us at the moment.”

Omar said that while he was humbled by the mandate of the people, he was also acutely aware of the responsibility that it places upon them.

“The people of J&K have gone unheard since 2018. Now the time has come for us to work for the benefit of the people of J&K. I am also acutely aware of the fact that there is a sharp divide between Kashmir and Jammu and therefore, the incoming government will have a major responsibility of giving a sense of ownership to the people of Jammu,” he said. “The government that comes in the next few days will not be a government of the NC or the alliance, or it will not be a government of those that voted for the alliance, it will be a government for every single individual of J&K, regardless of who they voted for, or whether they voted at all.”

Omar said that a special emphasis will be laid to give a sense of ownership and voice within the government to those areas from where MLAs in this coalition will be less in number.

On the issue of the nomination of five MLAs by the LG, the NC vice president advised LG Manoj Sinha not to do it to favour the BJP “because even with nominating those five MLAs, the BJP will not be able to form the government”.

“You will only nominate five MLAs to sit in the opposition and there will be a row because we will then have to approach the Supreme Court and file a case against it. While we want to have a cordial relationship with the Centre, this move will create tension right from day one,” he said. “The nomination of five MLAs will not have any impact on government formation. Some independents who won the election are already in touch with us and they will join us and we will increase our lead. The BJP will not gain anything by nominating these five MLAs.”

Omar said that hoping for the restoration of Article 370 from the very people who snatched it would be “foolish,” but added that his party would keep the issue alive and continue to raise it.

“Our political stand will not change. We have never said that we will remain silent on Article 370 or that Article 370 is not an issue for us now,” he told reporters here on what the stand of the party would be on the matter after government formation.

The NC leader expressed hope of getting some special provisions for J&K once a new government gets elected in the country.

“I have said this many times before the elections that hoping for the restoration of Article 370 from the people who snatched it will be foolish,” he said. “But we will keep this issue alive. We will continue to talk on this and hope that tomorrow there will be a change of government in the country, there will be a new setup with whom we can discuss this and get something for J&K.”

Omar said that the Congress will have to introspect deeply to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return for a third consecutive term.

“I had already said we were only wasting our time with these exit polls. But no one would have thought that the exit polls would be so wrong. Had it been 20 in place of 18 or 22 in place of 20, (we could have understood). But what happened was that 30 became 60 and 60 became 30,” the NC leader said.

“The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat,” he said.

“My job is to run the NC and help the alliance here, which I will,” Omar said.