Omar Abdullah slams BJP's 'hollow promises' on J&K statehood

J&K CM Omar Abdullah accused the BJP of making 'hollow promises' on restoring statehood. He alleged the BJP tried to poach a JKNC MLA and called it a 'backdoor party' for breaking rivals like TMC and Shiv Sena to gain power.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly advocated hollow promises of restoring the Statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. After claims of the BJP attempting to lure one of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference's (JKNC) MLAs with an offer of Rs 20-30 crore and a ministerial berth to switch sides, he accused the BJP of breaking several political parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

'BJP is a backdoor party'

While addressing a National Conference rally on the Statehood demand ahead of the 'Delhi Chalo' protest, the J&K Chief Minister called the BJP a "backdoor party", saying that it breaks the ruling parties in States where they fail to secure a majority, using their conflicts as a 'backdoor' to enter the State. "PM Modi has always promised that Jammu and Kashmir's statehood will be given at the appropriate time. What will be the right time? First, you did delimitation. They want to get more seats through that. You (BJP) have broken so many parties. See Maharashtra, see West Bengal, see Punjab! BJP is a backdoor party. Where they can't get power through the front door, they try to get through the back door," he said.

CM Abdullah said that restoring the Statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will not be a favour on the State. He added that this promise not only includes the JKNC but also all the other political parties that contested the 2024 elections. "Restoring the status of a State is not a favour to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A promise was made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir regarding this. In this promise, it wasn't just the National Conference that was involved; this promise includes all those parties that contested the elections nearly one and a half years ago," he said.

'BJP forgot its own promises'

Furthermore, slamming the BJP, CM Omar Abdullah challenged that not even a single candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to make the promise of restoring Jammu and Kashmir's Statehood while asking for votes during the 2024 election campaigns. "Show me even a single BJP MLA who, while addressing the public during the 2024 elections, said that they would not let Jammu and Kashmir become a State again. Show me even a single BJP candidate, whether in Jammu or in Kashmir, who did not say in their speech during the elections, 'Give votes to the BJP, and we will restore your Statehood status'," he said.

The Chief Minister intensified the attack on the BJP, saying that even though the BJP leaders remember the promises made by JKNC, they have completely forgotten about their own. "They never get tired of counting our promises, whether inside the Assembly or outside it. Their leaders remember our promises very well, but they fail to remember their own promises! They don't remember the promises they made themselves," he said.

Statehood status post-Article 370 abrogation

Following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the Centre formed two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the status of a state would be restored once the situation normalises. In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the move to abrogate Article 370, while not taking up the question of the restoration of statehood, as the Centre had submitted that it would be restored in due time. (ANI)

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