Back in J&K with hands tied, Omar Abdullah says mandate is for statehood, development

The National Conference secured 42 of the 56 seats it contested, making it the single largest party in this election. A key factor that paid off for the party in this election has been its positioning as the prime opposition to the BJP in J&K, which was downgraded by the BJP-led Central government and turned into a Union Territory from a state in August 2019.

Omar now faces the huge challenge of administration, particularly since J&K is now a Union Territory with the Lieutenant Governor wielding most powers including the formal control of J&K Police, and transfer/ posting of government officers. “I would like to believe the honourable Prime Minister who has committed to restoring statehood. I don’t recall a speech where he said statehood would be restored only when the BJP is in power, or that if the people of J&K do not vote for the BJP, they will be punished.”

Reacting to NC President Farooq Abdullah’s comments that he (Omar) would be next Chief Minister, he said this decision would be taken “by the allies together” after the legislative party meeting of the National Conference. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge spoke with both Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah congratulating them on the electoral victory.

Led by Omar, the party took the lead in election preparation and was the first to appoint constituency incharges as soon as the delimitation of seats redrew boundaries of Assembly segments. This gave the party candidates a significant edge over others as there was little confusion over tickets and the candidates could start work in their constituencies more than a year before the polls were announced.

In the family bastion of Ganderbal, Omar defeated PDP’s Bashir Ahmad Mir by over 10,000 votes.

In Budgam, where he contested for the first time, he defeated defeated PDP candidate Aga Muntazir Mehdi by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

As he returned to Ganderbal to collect his certificate of election, sporting a similar sozni cap, Omar said the people worked hard for one day and “I will work hard for them, for the next five years.”

Until July last week, Omar maintained he would not contest elections to a UT Assembly with limited powers. “I have been the chief minister of a full state and led the unified command. I can’t see myself in a position where I have to ask the L-G to pick my peon… sitting and waiting outside for him to sign the file,” he had told The Indian Express earlier.

But now, he is the prime contender for the CM’s post. Once the process of government formation is completed, Omar said, “Whoever is the next CM of J&K, I would expect them to travel to Delhi and meet the PM and other leaders and to impress upon them that the mandate of people of J&K was for the restoration of statehood, for development and peace.” He hoped that the J&K government is able to establish a decent working relationship with the Government of India.

On the BJP securing the largest share of seats in Jammu, he said that the party will have to be careful to ensure that people of Jammu do not feel they do not have a voice in this government. “I am of the belief that if statehood is restored, we should strive for the Legislative Council to be restored and we can have representation from Jammu there,” he said.

Omar was booked under the Public Safety Act amidst a clampdown on mainstream political leadership of Kashmir and was in detention for seven months at Hari Niwas in 2019-20 in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370. The dossier that formed the basis for his detention noted his ability “to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts”.

Over the last five years, he has taken charge of the National Conference repeating the party’s slogan hal hi hal hai in reference to the party’s symbol – the plough.

Travelling across the length and breadth of J&K, holding worker’s meetings, Omar urged them not to lose touch with their electorate, even with no indications of an Assembly election.

The National Conference was also the first party to file a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of Centre’s decision to remove Article 370 placing itself front and centre in the fight to restore Article 370, reading the resentment on the ground. While in December 2023, the SC favoured the Centre’s move, Omar said that the fight to restore Article 370 will continue.

In the interview to this newspaper in July this year, Omar had also said the NC would bring a resolution in the J&K Assembly seeking the restoration of J&K special status that formed the basis of J&K’s relationship with the Union of India. “It may not change anything on the ground but, the symbolism of it is not something that can be ignored,” he said.

The 54-year-old leader, who has faced criticism for not speaking in Kashmiri during his campaigns, has been trying to shed that image, sprinkling his speeches with a few lines in Kashmiri when speaking in the valley. His sons, Zahir and Zamir, have been seen campaigning with him since the Parliamentary polls held in May this year. They were also by his side on Tuesday as the NC erupted in celebration becoming the single largest party this election.

Omar took his first plunge into electoral politics in 1998, being elected to Parliament from Srinagar at the age of 28 years. He was part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government serving as MoS External Affairs. In 2002 he lost his first assembly election from Ganderbal but won the seat in the next election in 2008.

From 2009 to January 2015, Omar led J&K as Chief Minister but had to bear the brunt of protests across Kashmir over a spate of civilian killings in the valley. The party faced a rout in the following elections after which the PDP-BJP coalition took over.