By Tehelka Web Desk
Srinagar, Sep 26: A resolution seeking the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir triggered a bitter showdown between the ruling National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, with competing claims over statehood, autonomy and the political legacy of the erstwhile state dominating proceedings.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved the resolution after Question Hour, calling for the “immediate and urgent restoration” of full statehood and its forwarding to the Government of India. The move was based on the contention that the Centre had promised to restore statehood after delimitation and elections.
“In addition to the resolutions passed by this House on June 26, 2000, and November 6, 2024, the House calls upon the Government of India for the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and resolves that this resolution be forwarded to the Government of India,” the resolution read.
Omar urged members to debate and pass it unanimously, saying the exercise would remind the Centre of its commitment.
“So, Modi Ka Wada (Modi’s commitment) should have been been fulfilled till date,” the CM said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier description of statehood restoration as a promise.
The resolution, however, contained references to two earlier Assembly resolutions, including the June 2000 Autonomy Resolution passed by the Farooq Abdullah government and the November 2024 resolution seeking restoration of special status. That reference became the immediate flashpoint for the BJP.
BJP legislators objected to what they described as an attempt to bring autonomy and Article 370 back into the Assembly debate. They stormed the Well, tore copies of the resolution and raised slogans, while NC and Congress members countered with their own slogans.
Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said the BJP was willing to debate statehood but would not accept discussion on the 2000 Autonomy Resolution or Article 370.
“If you want to debate statehood, we challenge you. We are ready to debate on statehood. But you want to make Kashmiris fool in the name of statehood,” Sharma said.
The BJP’s objection centred on the wording of the resolution rather than opposition to statehood itself. Sharma questioned why the 2000 resolution had been cited in a measure that, according to the government, was specifically about restoring statehood.
The government maintained that the references did not alter the subject of Friday’s resolution. Omar said the earlier resolutions remained part of the Assembly record and argued that the BJP, despite having been part of the J&K government between 2016 and 2018, had not moved to nullify the 2000 resolution.
“We just want a vote on statehood. There should be a discussion, there should be a vote, so that we know where the BJP stands,” Omar said.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary framed the confrontation differently, saying statehood was a public demand rather than an NC issue. He accused the BJP of avoiding a debate and creating a ruckus instead.
“This resolution is nothing new,” Choudhary said, arguing that the Centre’s promised sequence was delimitation, elections and restoration of statehood.
The confrontation escalated as proceedings repeatedly descended into disorder. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the House for half an hour, but disruptions resumed when the Assembly reconvened. BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa was later marshalled out after attempting to lift a chair during the pandemonium.
The dispute exposed a wider political divide over what the restoration of statehood should mean. The BJP has supported statehood while opposing restoration of the pre-2019 special-status framework and pre-1953 autonomy. The NC, meanwhile, continues to link statehood to its broader political position on J&K’s constitutional status.
With the resolution expected to come up for debate and voting later in the session, Friday’s confrontation has ensured that the statehood question will be debated alongside the sharply contested issues of autonomy, special status and the political legacy of August 2019.
