Oct 09, 2024 11:32 AM IST
Omar Abdullah said the region cannot remain a union territory forever and hoped that PM Modi would fulfil his promise to the people of J&K.
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that he expects Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the “honourable thing” by restoring the promised statehood to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah won Ganderbal and Budgam seats, defeating his nearest rivals from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by more than 10,000 votes and 18,000 votes, respectively.
Announced by NC chief Farooq Abdullah as the new chief minister of J&K, he said the region cannot remain a union territory forever and hoped that PM Modi would fulfil the promise of statehood to the people of J&K.
“A lot of things can be done as a Union Territory, clearly some things can’t but we expect that J&K will not remain a UT forever. We expect the honourable PM will do the honourable thing and return statehood to JK at the earliest and then the rest of our manifesto will be implemented,” Omar Abdullah said.
Also read | J&K election: Omar Abdullah, ‘set to be new CM’, slams those ‘tried to destroy National Conference’
Ties with Centre
He said J&K cannot afford to have an antagonistic relationship with the central government in Delhi, as it needs their help to solve the region’s complex issues. “We will have to find a way of working together, and I hope that the Union government will respect the mandate of the people and will work together with the government of J-K to resolve the problems of the people,” he added.
Omar Abdullah explained that though his party does not agree with the politics of the BJP, it is not under compulsion to fight with the central government. “I think proper relations with the Centre will be good for J&K and the people of J&K. People of J&K have not voted for fights, they voted because they want jobs, progress, statehood, relief in power supply and resolution of other issues,” he said.
Also read | J&K assembly election results: Check full list of winners
Statehood for J&K
Several political parties, including the NC’s alliance partner Congress, had promised statehood to J&K, which was taken away when the region was stripped of its special status under Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Reacting to increasing demands for statehood, PM Modi, during his visit to Jammu on September 14, promised statehood to J&K if the party is voted to power in the union territory.
Speaking to NDTV after poll results on Tuesday, senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said statehood can be granted to the union territory if those in power can assure the Centre that ‘separatist’ tendencies, which he claimed had waned in last 10 years, would not re-emerge in the region.
(With inputs from ANI)
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