Srinagar, Oct 27 (KNO): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that delays in restoring statehood are diminishing hope among the people. He clarified that there is no understanding between the National Conference (NC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but his efforts are focused on maintaining relations with the central government to ensure proper governance.
Speaking to the media persons, Omar, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said he will not utter anything regarding resigning as the Chief Minister, as mentioned by him in an interview yesterday. “The person who conducted that interview also tried to ask me questions around this. I didn't answer them. If I didn't answer her, why do you think I will answer you?” he said.
Abdullah said he was hopeful for the restoration of statehood from the first day. “But the hope is fading with each passing day. Still, I am hopeful of its restoration. The more you make us wait, the less hopeful we will be. Only one year has passed. It would be better if we could have it during this hopefulness,” he said.
The CM said the government wanted to talk about the restoration of statehood. However, the speaker didn’t allow the discussion as the case is subjudice, he said. “I had no objection if any MLA tried to bring a resolution on statehood. The custodian of the house is the speaker, and only he can decide on the introduction of bills and resolutions.”
“I know where I stand in the matter of statehood. I know that if a resolution of statehood comes before the House, then my colleagues and I will vote," he added.
Omar further said the government doesn’t make decisions based on religion or area. “These are BJP members who have kept about 15% of the population of this country out of the government. Today, the BJP has not even one Muslim Member Parliament in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha,” he said while replying to a query on compensation to the flood-hit people.
The Chief Minister said his government will decide to disburse relief to the people by looking at the loss, not the area or religion. He added that in the area which has suffered loss, the package will be requested from the Centre and distributed among the people.
On hurdles being faced under the Union Territory, Abdullah said that if there were no obstacles, he would not have asked for statehood. “It is obvious that issues are being raised. I have the responsibility, and I will have to answer the House. But the officer doesn't seem to be my choice. There are many other examples and many institutions that should be under the control of the elected government, which are not yet. There are two universities, Cultural Academy, SKIMS, Power Development Corporation. There are many things that should have been transferred to the elected government, which have not been done. With these obstacles, we are fighting that statehood should be returned to us so that all these rights are with us,” he said.
About the Business Rules file, Omar said that there has been a conversation with the center for a few hours. “There have been one or two rounds of discussion. Some questions have been raised from there. But we are telling them that the business rules we have sent are completely under the J&K Reorganization Act. We have not tried to work against the Reorganization Act anywhere,” he said.
Regarding MLA Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone’s statement calling Rajya Sabha elections a ‘fixed match’ between NC and BJP, the Chief Minister stated that the person who has not taken part in the elections should clarify what his helplessness was to help the BJP. “If he wanted to avoid match-fixing, at least he would have used his vote,” he said, adding that the people of Handwara did not send him here to remain silent and play double roles. He should openly say whether he is with BJP or not.
“On the day when elections were announced, I had maintained that those who do not take part in this election or abstain are directly helping the BJP. The media had already announced the results, giving us three and the BJP the seat. But, on the ground, we fought and tried to win,” he said.
Regarding the Rajya Sabha results, he said those who have made a deal of their faith should answer to Allah, adding that he would like them to come forward.
He also said that one of the independent MLAs had approached him and admitted that he made a mistake. “The MLA was not allowed to open the dummy voter slip and thus he voted in the wrong place,” he added.
Omar said that on the last seat, four votes went in favour of the BJP, while three deliberately destroyed their votes because they didn't give a first preference; they directly wrote a second preference. Therefore, the BJP clearly made attempts to lure people. On what basis they were lured, whether they were induced or anything else, that only the BJP can answer,” he said.
On the discussion over Mehraj Malik’s detention, Abduallah said the speaker has given his opinion. I agree that whatever Mehraj Malik did was not worthy of a PSA. If there is any action against him, then the Speaker can do it. He is a member of this House,” he said, adding that a disciplinary committee can be formed to look into it, but using PSA against an elected member is completely wrong.
Abdullah said that there was no understanding with BJP. “The only party that is taking on the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is the National Conference. We are the ones who took them on in the Rajya Sabha elections, nobody else. Congress could have fielded a candidate; they chose not to. In Nagrota, where is PDP's candidate? Congress also, at the last minute, told us they will not fight, so I had to scramble to find a candidate. Otherwise, we were ready to support Congress in Nagrota. We are not those people who have a secret understanding,” he added.
The CM said that his attempt is that the central government should maintain relations so that J&K government's work is done properly. “But the relationship between the government, the National Conference, and the BJP has a big difference. There is no relation between the National Conference and the BJP anywhere else. What will happen to my relationship with the central government is another thing,” he said.
Omar said any by-election is a challenge for a government. “We are taking this by-election also as a challenge. This challenge is multiplied by the complexities of voter distribution in Budgam. It is also multiplied by some element of internal politics that is playing out. I am hopeful that the people of Budgam will make the right choice,” he said—(KNO)