Jammu, Oct 17, KNT: Marking the completion of one year in office, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday addressed a press conference in Jammu, defending his government’s performance and reiterating his call to the Centre for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah said his government had worked diligently to accelerate development and deliver on electoral promises, but stressed that it would be premature to judge the administration’s achievements within a year. “Our government has tried to speed up development and fulfill promises made to the people. This is a five-year government, if you want to judge us by our manifesto, judge us after five years,” the Chief Minister said.
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The National Conference-led cabinet, he confirmed, has also given approval for the revival of the century-old Darbar Move, a traditional administrative practice of shifting offices between Srinagar and Jammu. “The file was sent to the Lieutenant Governor and has been approved. The government is reviving the practice soon,” Abdullah announced.
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Reflecting on the challenges of governance in the Union Territory setup, Abdullah admitted that functioning under the current arrangement was “a different experience.” He said the statehood issue remains central to the region’s political aspirations. “We had hoped that in the first year, the Central government would fulfill its promise and restore statehood. We won’t budge, we still believe that the resolution of all issues in Jammu and Kashmir lies in the restoration of statehood,” he asserted.
Abdullah urged the Central Government to act on its commitments made in both Parliament and the Supreme Court. “The promise made must be fulfilled,” he said, calling for trust-building between New Delhi and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
On the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Omar Abdullah expressed optimism that opposition parties would unite to prevent the BJP from gaining ground. “When Mehbooba talked to Farooq Abdullah, he told her that any vote in favor of the BJP or abstaining is as good as supporting the BJP. I hope Mehbooba Mufti will vote for our candidate, and I also request Sajad Lone not to stay away from voting. Let him tell the people of Handwara whether he worked for BJP’s success,” he remarked.
Abdullah dismissed speculation about friction with the Congress. “There are no differences with Congress. I spoke to the party’s general secretary in Delhi and made it clear we couldn’t give them two Rajya Sabha seats. However, we are ready to ally with Congress if they have a strong candidate for Nagrota Assembly seat,” he said.
Responding to recent criticism from the PDP, Abdullah said that legislative bills, including those proposed by other parties, would be examined on merit. “The condition to accept bills has not yet reached the Assembly. Let the bills come before the House, and if the Assembly wishes to pass them, I won’t stand in the way,” he said. [KNT]
