Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Sep 26: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said they will never let the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) come to power even if they delay the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chief Minister was reacting to a query on Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly (LA), Sunil Sharma.
Asked about the allegation that the Chief Minister was justifying violence, CM Omar said there was no justification for it. “There is no reason to justify violence, but it has become a habit of the LoP to shift blame. He should answer why this situation has arisen. I am neither Ladakh’s LG nor do I control the security apparatus,” he said.
Omar also questioned the delay in restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir. “Why hasn’t statehood been restored? Is it because the LoP is not the Chief Minister? If that’s the condition, then they should tell the court clearly that statehood will not be restored until the BJP is out of power. But we won’t let them come to power. Even if they delay statehood restoration, we will continue to run the government in the current setup,” he said
He also said that the arrest of activist Sonam Wangchuk in Leh is unfortunate.
Notably, Wangchuk was arrested today two days after violent protests in the Leh city, in which four people died and several others injured.
The Chief Minister while speaking to the reporters said it was unfortunate that Wangchuk has been arrested, but the way the Centre has been targeting him over the past few days made it seem inevitable.
He also said that the Centre had made promises to the people of Jammu & Kashmir but failed to fulfill them. “I don’t know what compulsion the Centre has that it keeps making promises but never fulfills them,” he said.
He said that the people of Ladakh had decided to boycott the elections, but after Union Minister’s visit and fresh assurances, they not only participated in the polls but also helped the BJP win.
