Omar Abdullah rules out alliance with BJP for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir stateh
Omar Abdullah rules out alliance with BJP for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir statehood
M.U.H
18/10/202520
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday ruled out the possibility of allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and asserted that the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA) would be revoked once full statehood is restored to the Union Territory.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar to mark one year of his government, Omar said his administration is committed to implementing pledges made in the National Conference(NC) manifesto.
Omar called the linking of the restoration of statehood by the Centre to the Pahalgam attack as “injustice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“The elected government was not responsible for that incident and those involved were not from J&K,” he said. “To connect statehood with Pahalgam is unfair.”
The chief minister said the Union government had promised in Parliament and before the Supreme Court that statehood would follow delimitation and elections.
“Two promises have been fulfilled—delimitation and elections—but the third, statehood, remains pending,” he said. We hope it will also be honoured soon.”
He dismissed speculation about joining hands with the BJP to secure statehood.
“If the restoration of statehood depends on the BJP coming to power, then the party should be honest and say so,” he said. “The BJP never mentioned in its manifesto, Parliament or before the Supreme Court that statehood is contingent upon their rule in J&K.”
He said an alliance with them is out of the question. “We are still suffering from the aftermath of the PDP-BJP alliance of 2015, and I will not repeat that mistake,” he said.
About coming good on the election manifesto, he said there are some hurdles in their way, but all promises will be fulfilled in five years.
On the contentious issue of smart meter installation, the chief minister clarified that his party had never promised to remove them.
“We had promised 200 free electricity units, which can only be ensured through smart meters,” he said. “Without them, it would be impossible to assess the actual power load of consumers.”
He said the smart meters had helped improve supply and reduce bills, particularly for low-income households.
The CM also said that his government would revoke the Public Safety Act once Jammu and Kashmir regains statehood.
“We will not wait for an Assembly session; the law will be repealed through an ordinance,” he said. “The security and law and order currently lie under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant Governor.”
Omar said the government would revisit the issue of cabinet expansions after the upcoming byelections in Budgam and Nagrota.
“As a Union Territory, we have an artificially limited number of ministers, which affects regional representation,” he said. “I don’t believe only ministers can work for their constituencies. Once byelections are held, we will consider expansion.”
About making the report on rationalisation of reservation public, Omar said it cannot be done unless approved by the Lieutenant Governor. He said their goal is the empowerment of the people.
