In first meeting, J-K cabinet adopts statehood resolution; Omar Abdullah to meet PM Modi

Highly placed official sources told The Indian Express that the J&K cabinet met Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and unanimously adopted a resolution seeking restoration of statehood.

Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already committed to restoration of statehood to J&K post the Assembly elections, the resolution, sources said, stated that if the Central government wants to make the people happy then it should restore statehood because an elected government has been formed after the Assembly elections.

The new government also made it clear that it wants good and cordial relations with the Centre.

Sources said the resolution will be submitted to the Prime Minister by the Chief Minister when he visits New Delhi in the next couple of days.

Restoration of statehood to J&K was one of the several promises made by the National Conference in its election manifesto.

Government sources said that while the resolution has been passed by the cabinet, the minutes of the cabinet meeting are yet to be cleared by the Lieutenant Governor. “Since this is a Union Territory, the cabinet notes cannot go out without the L-G’s clearance,” a source said.

As per sources, the minutes of the cabinet meeting sent to the L-G feature restoration of statehood as agenda number 1 on the list.

Opposition parties, including the PDP, were critical of the development.

“Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5, 2019 decision. No resolution on Article 370 and scaling down the demand to mere statehood is a huge setback, especially after seeking votes on the promise of restoring Article 370,” PDP youth president and Pulwama MLA Waheed Para posted on X.

People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone also questioned why the resolution was brought through the cabinet and not the assembly: “I humbly state that the will of the people of J&K is reflected in the Assembly and not in the cabinet. Cabinet is a majoritarian institution of governance. It does not reflect all shades and opinions as per the will of the people of J&K.”

To the criticism that the NC has pivoted on its stance to bring the resolution on restoration of Article 370 first, a source said, “Article 370 is the purview of the legislature while statehood is the purview of the government. Hence, the statehood resolution has come first.”

Apart from restoration of statehood, revival of the durbar move between Jammu and Srinagar was also another election promise of the NC. Sources said the government decided to take up the statehood issue first, and address the issue of the durbar move later.

Sources said the cabinet, at its meeting a day after the formation of the new government, discussed challenges to governance and decided to focus on streamlining administrative functioning, promoting transparency and redressing public grievances.

To do away with the “VIP culture” in the administration, Omar Abdullah has already asked the Director General of Police that there should not be restrictions on movement of vehicular traffic during the passage of his cavalcade or those of ministers.