Omar Abdullah accuses BJP of blocking J&K statehood restoration

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday (September 24) accused the BJP of delaying the restoration of statehood because it lost the elections. Omar further alleged that the BJP was opposing the restoration of Statehood.

‘Unfair to people’

Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister said that just because the BJP lost the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the people could not be punished by being deprived of statehood.

"People participated in the election process. It is the BJP's bad luck that they couldn't win. However, people here can't be punished for that. It seems like statehood is not being provided to the people since the BJP didn't form the government. It is unfair to people,” said Omar.

“It was not stated that statehood will be restored only when the results favour the BJP. The opposition to statehood is coming from the BJP," he added as quoted by ANI.

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‘Biggest challenge’

Describing the delay in the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as the “biggest challenge,” the Chief Minister said that the Centre has not yet acted on the issue even though it told the Supreme Court about it three-step process comprising delimitation, elections and statehood.

"The biggest challenge is that we are not a state anymore. We were hoping for the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Supreme Court was informed that a three-step process would be implemented: delimitation, followed by elections and statehood. Delimitation and elections happened," said Omar.

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Expresses concern over tourism

The Chief Minister also expressed concern that tourism in Jammu and Kashmir has not recovered as expected. He said that the footfall from tourists during the Pooja season from states like West Bengal has not been as expected.

"We were hoping that tourism in Kashmir would start again. We were hoping for a tourist influx during and after the Pooja season from states like West Bengal. But that is not happening," he added.

The Chief Minister’s comments come at a time when the regional parties are repeatedly demanding the restoration of statehood ever since the abrogation of Article 370.

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What SC said on statehood restoration

On August 5, 2019, the centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without a legislature).

The Supreme Court, on August 14, during the hearing of a plea seeking directions to the Centre for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, stated that the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be ignored while granting statehood and said that the events in Pahalgam cannot be overlooked.