Abdullah assured that once the new government is formed, he will travel to New Delhi to urge Home Minister Amit Shah and others to restore statehood to J&K
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Tuesday reiterated his appeal for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his public commitment to the state’s restoration.
“I would like to believe Honourable PM has said it publicly that we will restore statehood. He hasn’t said we will only restore if the BJP is elected to power,” Abdullah said while speaking to the media.
Jammu and Kashmir was demoted to a Union Territory (UT) in 2019 following the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35(A) by the Modi-led central government.
Abdullah’s comes after the National Conference-Congress alliance’s sweeping victory in the assembly elections. His father, NC president Farooq Abdullah, also announced that his son, Omar, will become the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
These were the first elections in the former state since 2014 and since Article 370 was revoked.
Omar, who was also former J&K chief minister, further assured that once the new government is formed, he will travel to New Delhi to urge Home Minister Amit Shah and others to restore statehood.
“Once new government comes, I expected the CM to travel to Delhi and meet HM and other leaders and impress upon them that mandate was to restore statehood. Whoever CM is I expected him to have a decent relationship with get government of India. We have to find a way of working together,” he sated.
Abdullah has secured victories in the Budgam and Ganderbal Assembly seats in Kashmir, defeating his nearest rivals from the PDP by margins of over 10,000 votes and 18,000 votes, respectively.
Meanwhile, the National Conference-Congress alliance won the 90-seat Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, with the coalition securing a total of 48 seats. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) achieved an impressive 42 seats, while Congress secured 6 seats.
While, the BJP emerged as the second-largest party, winning 29 constituencies.
