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.

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“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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Bhubaneswar:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government has made a “solemn promise” for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and will stand by it, adding the Centre was working very hard to create the right conditions.

Noting that the record voter turnout in Srinagar is one of the “most gratifying things” he has seen in his tenure, PM Modi said people of Jammu and Kashmir have seen the NDA government’s commitment to democracy enhancement in the region, “even at the cost of us sacrificing power for ourselves”.

“The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it. We are working very hard to create the right conditions so that it can be done expeditiously,” he told PTI in an exclusive interview here Sunday night.

The Modi government had abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in August 2019 and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“Through the abrogation of Article 370, we today have witnessed not just the dreams and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir coming into fruition but also their enthusiasm for participating in one of the biggest festivals in any democracy -elections,” PM Modi said.

He said the voting percentage in Srinagar, once a hotbed for all kinds of radical elements, witnessed the highest voter turnout in decades. Srinagar recorded a 36.7 per cent turnout–the highest since 1996–in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 13.

The world witnessed the growth and enthusiasm of the people in J and K when they welcomed the delegates from across the world during the G20 events, he added.

“The progress that Jammu and Kashmir has made in the last five years gives me immense hope that we are on the right path to restore statehood. We want to institutionalise the positive changes that have taken place and make the gains irreversible so that the people of the region have to never ever witness the torrid years that generations had to bear.

“We want to create a Jammu and Kashmir where violence is history, prosperity is destiny. This is our long term strategy for Kashmir. Our aspiration is that Jammu and Kashmir regains its stature as the hub of culture, knowledge and tourism along with becoming a centre of futuristic technologies like AI (Artificial intelligence),” PM Modi said.

On holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister said the Supreme Court has set a date for assembly polls in the region and the Election Commission is mandated to follow the directions of the highest court and it is the best organisation to assess as to when and how it will conduct assembly elections.

In December 2023, the apex court had directed the Election Commission to conduct elections in J and K by September 30, 2024.

Asked for his assessment on the high turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, PM Modi said Parliament had put its seal of approval on scrapping this provision in August 2019 and the people had given their implicit approval in 2019 itself and beyond by defying all doomsday predictions and helping maintain peace in the region.

Then in December 2023, he said, the Supreme Court imprinted the judicial seal on the abrogation with an unanimous verdict by a constitution bench.

“What the elections in Jammu and Kashmir have done in 2024 is to put a seal of explicit democratic approval as well – the final seal in the trinity of according approval to our historic decision,” PM Modi said.

PM Modi said the BJP is perhaps the only party in the country which walked out of a government so that more power could be devolved to the people.

“And we fulfilled our commitment by conducting peaceful local body and Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir in December 2018.” In June 2018, the BJP, which was part of a coalition government in J and K with the People Democratic Party (PDP), pulled out of the alliance, leading to the fall of the then Mehbooba Mufti government and imposition of central rule. The saffron party then alleged that it became untenable for it to continue its alliance government as “terrorism, violence and radicalisation have risen and fundamental rights of the citizens are under danger in the Valley”.

PM Modi said people of the region have seen his government’s honest intentions, the consistent efforts it has made to integrate them into the mainstream of India’s democracy and they have now proactively endorsed the steps taken through this peaceful, high voter turnout.

“I have no doubt in my mind that Jammu and Kashmir has a very bright future and the region will serve as a beacon of democratic empowerment and aspirations.” Asked how the recent situation in J and K aligns with the government’s long-term strategy for the region, the prime minister said Jammu and Kashmir, since 1947, has been a victim of conflict economy, where the stakeholders were a few politicians, many who were working for their own personal agendas or those of outside forces.

“For almost seven decades, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were denied the right to development, progress, and prosperity because a few families, in India and their masters outside, wanted to use the people to peddle their own separatist agenda. This was an irreversible loss for generations of innocent families who were pulled into a conflict. We want to ensure that now there is an irreversible dividend of peace for future generations to come.” PM Modi said ever since his government came into office in 2014, its agenda has been quite clear — development for all, opportunities for all, prosperity for all.

He said for 70 years, there was a conflict, but for 70 years, not all regions were accessible via all-weather roads, or with all the basic necessities.

“Think about the struggles of the tribal population in the mountains, or the youth in region who could not get any aspirational jobs like the youth in the rest of the country. We have managed to reverse this trend, especially post 2019,” he added.

The prime minister said from tourism to education, from sports to agriculture, from manufacturing to FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations), and from SHGs (Self Help groups) to entrepreneurship, the government wants to create an ecosystem for everything within the region itself.

“Our strategy is already proving to be successful. You look at some of the events that routinely happen at Dal Lake. I was amazed to see that a Formula-4 event drew such massive crowds. When we replace fear with hope, we convert hopelessness into aspiration.

“That is what we have done and the ripple effect this transformation will have will not just positively transform the region but entire India. This peace and optimism among the people has rattled the terrorists and their sponsors in our neighbouring country,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)