4 min readJammuApr 20, 2026 10:34 PM IST
Hitting out at the BJP-led Centre over women’s reservation and the unfulfilled promise of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday asked if its promises were “so light that you repeat them everywhere – in the Supreme Court, in Parliament, in election rallies – and then step back”.
“What was their promise?” Abdullah asked at a public rally in Nowshera in Rajouri district. For restoration of statehood, it had outlined a three-step process — first delimitation, then elections and thereafter statehood, he added.
Delimitation took place, followed by not one but two elections — Lok Sabha and Assembly — in 2024, he said. They had said statehood would be restored once elections were over, Abdullah added, noting that “one and a half years have passed and today, we are asking as to where that promise is.”
“There is still no clear answer,” he said, adding that the BJP says “at the right time”. “I keep asking them to tell clearly what the right time means,” he added.
“If you say it is your promise and if you have given your word, does your word have no value,” Abdullah asked, adding, “should we consider your promises are so light that you repeat them everywhere – in the Supreme Court, in Parliament, in the election rallies, and then step back”.
He urged the Centre to spell out a clear roadmap for restoration of statehood. “Explain to us what this ‘right time’ is so that we can work towards it,” he said.
“Just like when we set exams for children, we tell them what marks are needed to pass… similarly, tell us what conditions need to be met so we can reach that goal,” he added.
Story continues below this ad
Asking where the statehood promise stood, Abdullah said people had voted hoping the perceived injustice against Jammu and Kashmir would be addressed.
Pointing out that “turning us from a State into a Union Territory felt like a punishment”, he also questioned local BJP leaders: “Where did their promises go?”
Referring to the 2024 Assembly elections, he said that though the BJP could not form a government in Jammu and Kashmir, it remains in power at the Centre. “They did not say that if you give power to another party, we will punish you, but promised that statehood would happen in three steps: first delimitation, then elections and thereafter statehood,” he said.
Abdullah also hit out at the BJP over the implementation of women’s reservation in legislatures.
Story continues below this ad
“We had said in Parliament that we support the Bill, but delimitation cannot be done without a census,” he said, asking, “what was the compulsion? What was hidden behind that bill?”
Alleging attempts to push delimitation under the cover of women’s reservation, he referred to the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, saying, “have we forgotten how delimitation happened here?” Seven seats were created — out of those, six were taken by the BJP, he added.
“Clearly, delimitation was done to consolidate control,” Abdullah said, adding, “it is another matter that, by the will of the Almighty, their plans did not fully succeed, and people like Surender Chaudhary (present deputy chief minister) won defeating such designs”.
Pointing out that the National Conference will continue to raise such issues, he said, “that is why we keep confronting them and questioning them. And when we do, they are not comfortable — they are not happy.”