Srinagar, Oct 23: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reached New Delhi on Wednesday, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This is Omar’s first visit to New Delhi after he was sworn in as the chief minister of J&K.
Sources said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will meet the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. “Omar Abdullah will submit the resolution passed by the J&K Cabinet seeking the restoration of statehood to the Prime Minister during his meeting with him tomorrow,” sources said.
J&K Cabinet headed by Omar Abdullah passed the resolution for restoration of statehood on October 17 and also authorised the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Centre.
J&K was divided into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh following the abrogation of article 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019. J&K remained without an elected government for five years till September 2024 when legislative Assembly elections followed the Lok Sabha elections here.
NC made restoration of article 370 and statehood to J&K its main electoral plank. NC won 42, BJP 29, Congress 6. PDP 3, CPI (M) 1, Peoples Conference (PC) 1 and Aam Aadmi Party 1 while 7 seats were won by independent candidates. Congress with six seats has supported the NC government while deciding not to join the government till statehood is restored to J&K.
Interestingly, Congress managed to win only one seat from the Jammu division while the party won five seats from the Valley. Six independents have supported the NC government while one of them, Satish Sharma has joined the Omar Abdullah-headed cabinet. Sharma defeated the senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister, Tara Chand in Chamb Assembly constituency of Jammu district.
IANS