Srinagar:

Jammu and Kashmir will not benefit from an “antagonistic relationship” with the BJP-led central government, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah told NDTV Tuesday evening, shortly after his party and the Congress won the 2024 J&K Assembly election – the first in a decade.

Mr Abdullah – who will become Chief Minister for a second time, having already received the support of his father and party patriarch Farooq Abdullah – also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil his promise and restore statehood stripped five years ago after the scrapping of Article 370.

Restoration of statehood was a key poll plank for the NC-Congress alliance.

“An Honourable PM” 

“The PM is an honourable man… he promised the people of J&K statehood and I hope he lives up to that,” Mr Abdullah told NDTV, playing down a suggestion this could be delayed since the BJP – as it had hoped to after the Prime Minister’s announcement on statehood – did not win this election.

“Nowhere has the BJP ever said – first there will be our government and then statehood. The PM never said that. People of J&K have spoken and I hope the Prime Minister will now be magnanimous and restore statehood at the earliest,” he said, referring also to a Supreme Court ruling.

READ | In Historic J&K Ruling, Supreme Court Sets Election Deadline

“We don’t call him ‘honourable’ Prime Minister for nothing,” Mr Abdullah said.

Mr Abdullah also said the election result is a rejection of the scrapping of Article 370.

READ |Statehood, Empowerment, Development: PM’s Promise in Srinagar

In December last year the court, while setting the Election Commission a September 30 deadline to conduct this election, also said steps should be taken to restore statehood at the earliest.

And in June this year Mr Modi, speaking days after being sworn in for a third successive term, said, “That day is not far… when Jammu and Kashmir can decide its own future as a state.”

He repeated that promise at an election rally in Srinagar, saying, “We promised in Parliament that we will restore J&K’s statehood and the BJP will fulfil this commitment.”

Centre-J&K Relationship

On the incoming J&K government’s relationship with New Delhi, Mr Abdullah said the union territory is at a crucial stage in its economic and social development, and called on the centre’s support.

“I believe the new (J&K) government must have a healthy working relationship with the union government. I hope they (the BJP) realises J&K is at a very crucial stage and does not play politics.”

Mr Abdullah acknowledged the need to rebuild the relationship between the BJP and J&K, particularly the Kashmir region that voted overwhelmingly against the saffron party. He also red-flagged the difficult relationship with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, whose expected nomination of five members to the J&K Assembly drew scathing criticism from the NC and other parties.

He also called on Mr Sinha to play his part in the repair of ties.

“There is a need for some relationship building… there is currently no relation between the incumbent and the Governor. J&K will not benefit if the LG decides to be antagonistic…”

Consequent to that discussion, Mr Abdullah also highlighted a key challenge for the new government – “to give a sense of the ownership to voters from Jammu… who did not vote for the NC-Congress”.

“I believe, when statehood is restored, the government must also move to restore the legislative council. We must give representation to all,” he said, including Kashmiri Pandits in his appeal.

“Reason To Smile”

On the overall result – the NC won 42 seats – Mr Abdullah declared, “There is ample reason to smile. We have done well… better than we expected…” and congratulated party leaders and workers.

“I am grateful for every seat we have… yes, we could be greedy and say ‘we want 10 more… 15 more. But we got these number of seats and we are thankful for each,” he said.

READ | National Conference, Congress’ Thump BJP In 1st J&K Poll In Decade

Mr Abdullah also hit out, again, at exit pollsters who predicted a hung Assembly.

Omar Abdullah also had reason to smile for his own election results; he contested and won the Budgam and Ganderbal Assembly seats, each by significant margins. This comes after a setback in the Lok Sabha election, in which he lost Baramulla – by over two lakh votes – to ‘engineer’ Rashid.

“Baramulla was an aberration and I have proven it. This wasn’t an easy campaign… for me, personally, it was a difficult election as it came on the back of a defeat,” he said.

“People Have Expectations”

Looking forward, Mr Abdullah said, “The burden of expectations is something we have come to realise over the course of years. The people have expectations and we have to deliver.”

“Some things – the reference was to restoration of statehood – we will start work on immediately.”

There are people who may have voted for the National Conference for the first time, he also pointed out, emphasising, “It is our responsibility to live up to their expectations.”

Will He Be Chief Minister?

Earlier today NC boss Farooq Abdullah declared “Omar Abdullah banega Chief Minister”.

Speaking to NDTV Omar Abdullah played down any assumption of that sort, saying the legislative party would take that decision and said, ‘doctor saab’, referring to his father, was “very kind”.

On Congress’ Diminished Role

The NC will head the new J&K government but much of the post-poll analysis will also focus on the Congress’ dismal showing. In the 2014 election the party won 12 seats. This time it got only six.

Mr Abdullah, however, refrained from commenting on his ally’s performance or offering advice, saying only that the Congress has “a number of reasons to do soul-searching”, particularly with elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand still to come this year, and Delhi voting early next year.

“It is not for me to advise the Congress. It is for them to take stock for what happened. They have people who can analyse and take corrective measures,” he said.

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New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party’s Mehraj Malik – who handed his party a first ever election win in Jammu and Kashmir, in local body polls in December 2020 – is now leading the race for the Doda legislative seat, as votes are being counted for the first Assembly election in the former state in a decade.

According to Election Commission data at 1.30 pm the AAP candidate was nearly 5,000 votes ahead of the BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana and leading the National Conference’s Khalid Najib Suharwardy by nearly 10,000. Twelve of 13 rounds of counting have been completed, according to the poll panel.

The Doda seat was won by the BJP’s Shakti Raj in the 2014 election, but has traditionally flipped between the National Conference and the Congress since the first poll in 1962.

The AAP’s (almost) success in J&K comes as a bit of a shock to many, particularly since it has been blanked in Haryana – party boss Arvind Kejriwal’s home state. Should the Haryana trend hold it will be a major setback for Mr Kejriwal, particularly since the Delhi election is only four months away.

READ | AAP’s Expansion Plan Hits Haryana Wall, Leads Indicate Zero Seats

The AAP’s Haryana loss is also key given it could not agree a seat-share with the Congress, with which it is allied – under the INDIA bloc umbrella – on the national stage.

The AAP and Congress had all but reached an agreement but state leaders from either side vetoed a deal asked for by Rahul Gandhi, who has often spoken of the need for the opposition to stand united.

READ | AAP-Congress Pre-Poll Alliance Failed In Haryana. This Is Why

Back in J&K, Mr Malik is leading in a seat and region that has been roiled by terror attacks over the past several months; as recently as August, in fact, an Army Captain was killed in action in an encounter with terrorists in the Assar area of the district. A civilian was also injured. Security forces also recovered a United States-made assault rifle and three blood-soaked rucksacks with equipment and logistics.

In fact, in July J&K Police launched a major crackdown on entrenched terror networks after a deadly encounter in Doda in which four Army personnel, including another officer, were killed in action.

READ | Major Crackdown Against Terror Network After Doda Encounter

Doda was also where Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir election campaign; his visit last month was the first by a sitting Prime Minister in over four decades.

Multi-tier security was deployed across Doda and Kishtwar in preparation for Mr Modi’s visit.

The AAP leader’s good showing so far is also an outlier in an election that has, so far, been dominated by the National Conference-Congress alliance, which is leading in over 50 of the former state’s 90 Assembly seats. The BJP – which has never ruled J&K on its own – is trailing with 27 leads.

Exit polls had given the Congress-NC alliance a slight edge. An aggregate of three indicates the Congress-NC will win 43 seats and the BJP 26, with the PDP winning between four and 12.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Srinagar:

Radical jailed separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay is set to take on former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah from the Ganderbal constituency in the upcoming Assembly elections. His nomination papers have been accepted from two assembly constituencies – Ganderbal and Beerwah. 

Omar Abdullah, however, on Friday alleged that the BJP and central government were putting up the jailed separatist against him so that he would be defeated in assembly elections.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NC’s vice president was defeated by Engineer Rashid, who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail on terror funding charges.

“Leaders in Delhi dislike me. But the fact that they hate me so much is getting evident to me. Why are candidates in jail only contesting against me,” Mr Abdullah said.

He said he now smells a rat even in Engineer Rashid’s Lok Sabha victory from the Baramulla parliament seat. 

“I never saw a plot in the victory of Engineer Rashid, who had contested elections earlier too. But when the news came about Sarjan Barkati contesting from Ganderbal, I could see a plot,” he said.

“Some agencies felt that I may also contest from Beerwah, where I won the last time. He (Barkati) was first asked to file from Ganderbal and then from Beerwah. I circumvented them and filed from Budgam instead of Beerwa” he said.

The separatist cleric, also known as Sarjan Barkati, was the face of 2016 violent agitations in Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016.

In his speeches, he openly incited youth to pick up guns, asking them to become suicide bombers. He also used to say that guns were the only solution and called for attacks on symbols of India.

He was first arrested in 2016 and a case was filed against him under the Public Safety Act. He was again arrested last year and is facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

His wife is also in jail on terror funding charges.