J&K CM feels 'statehood will not be restored as BJP lost polls'

Srinagar: J&K CM Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that there is a feeling that statehood will not be restored as BJP could not win the assembly elections here.

Abdullah, while speaking to reporters in Srinagar, said BJP was the only political party opposing the restoration of statehood and that it would be restored only if the party wins elections here. He said the biggest challenge before his 11-month-old government is that J&K is not a state. "Sometimes it looks like people of J&K will not get statehood because BJP lost the assembly elections in 2024. This is an injustice because nowhere was it said that statehood will be restored only if the BJP wins," Abdullah told reporters. "If there is opposition to the restoration of statehood, it is coming only from BJP," he said.

"We expected it to be a three-step process: first delimitation, then elections, followed by restoration of statehood. The delimitation happened, elections were conducted... ," he said.