Won't ally with BJP for restoration of statehood to Jammu & Kashmir: CM Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday asserted he will not ally with the BJP to hasten the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory, saying his party has no intention of repeating the "mistakes" committed by others in the past.

The chief minister also said he is exploring the possibility of becoming a party to the plea for the restoration of statehood to J-K in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of pleas seeking restoration of statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and on October 10, it gave the Centre four weeks to file its response.

Abdullah said if the restoration of statehood is dependent on the BJP coming to power in J-K, then the national party should be honest in saying so.

"If that is the deal that is to be struck with the people, then the BJP should be honest, because the BJP in its manifesto and its promises to Parliament and to the Supreme Court never said that the statehood is dependent on the BJP coming to power in J-K.

"If that is the case, then I think the BJP should be honest, they should tell us that so long as there is a non-BJP government in J-K, you will not get statehood. Then we will decide what we want to do," he said.

However, Abdullah added that "tying up with the BJP or an alliance with the BJP is out of the question".

He said J-K is "still suffering the after-effects" of the PDP-BJP alliance in 2015.

"We have already seen how much that has destroyed J-K. An unnecessary alliance between the PDP and the BJP was born in 2015. We are still suffering the after-effects of that. I have no intention of repeating mistakes that other people have made," the CM added.

Asked if he had any hopes with the Supreme Court on the restoration of statehood, Abdullah said, "We should have hopes. But it is also right that somewhere Pahalgam is being linked to restoration of statehood. People of J-K did not support it. No one involved in the attack was from J-K." Abdullah added, "I won't go into the politics of it. Repeatedly it was said in Parliament that there are three steps - delimitation, election and statehood. Two steps have been taken, now we hope the third will also be done," he added.

Abdullah said he is consulting senior lawyers in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Delhi about the possibility of becoming a party to the statehood restoration petition before the apex court in view of his unique experience as having been a chief minister of the state and also a Union Territory.

"I don't think anybody else understands the disadvantages that we are put to by being a UT than I do. I am the only person in the entire country with the experience of being both the chief minister of a state and the chief minister of a UT. I can put it on paper and share with the honourable Supreme Court when they have to decide about the statehood to J-K.

"That said, it is for my lawyers to advise whether it would actually be beneficial to the people of J-K. If that is, I have no hesitation in becoming a party to this case in the SC. So, this is something that is actively being discussed with a legal team and based on their opinion, there is a possibility that as chief minister, I will make myself a party to this case," he added.

Highlighting the "confusion" in the dual system of governance in a UT, Abdullah said he had appointed an advocate general within days of assuming office as the post is the legal face of the government.

"We appointed an advocate general within days of coming to power. We asked the existing AG to continue but he was asked not to attend office. Technically, we have an AG but he has not been allowed to work," the NC vice president said.

Abdullah said he believes that the authority to appoint the advocate general is with the elected government.

"The absence of AG is not good for us. He is the legal face of the government," he said.

On the recent crisis in Ladakh, he said it was unfortunate as promises were made to the people there but "not kept".

"The crisis in Ladakh is extremely unfortunate. Promises were made which have not been kept and it seems to be a practice, particularly in the case of J-K. Ladakhis were promised the Sixth Schedule but not granted. The People of Ladakh were pushed to the wall. Do you want to push the people of Jammu and Kashmir to the wall as well?" he asked.

Abdullah said if promises are made, they should be kept as well.

The NC leader also raised the issue of different domicile yardsticks in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

"Two Union Territories were born out of one state on 5 August 2019. Yet in some respects, Jammu and Kashmir has been treated very differently to Ladakh and one of those areas is the domicile law. That I believe is something that needs to be brought at par but for us, the more important question is that the main promises made to the people to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh should be kept," he said.