New Delhi [India], October 16 (ANI): In a thinly veiled attack at the BJP-led Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that government formation without statehood felt incomplete today. The reaction of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha came hours after attending the oath taking ceremony of Omar Abdullah in Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Saxena administered the oath of office to Omar Abdullah and his council of ministers at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Besides Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and some other INDIA alliance leaders were present.
Congratulations to CM Omar Abdullah and to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, government formation without statehood felt incomplete today.
Democracy was snatched from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and today we renew our pledge to continue our fight until statehood…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 16, 2024
In a statement on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Congratulations to CM Omar Abdullah and to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, government formation without statehood felt incomplete today.”
Congress leader added, “Democracy was snatched from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and today we renew our pledge to continue our fight until statehood is fully restored.”
Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday reaffirmed his party’s commitment to restoring statehood in Jammu and Kashmir, following Omar Abdullah’s swearing-in as the region’s chief minister.
Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, “I have come here to congratulate him. We are happy that our alliance partner became the CM and democracy has been established here after a long time…we will ensure that statehood is restored here.”
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir urged the Prime Minister to respond swiftly to the people’s mandate and restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Mir said, “The people have given their mandate to restore the status of state. It was our first agenda. The PM also made this commitment to restore the state after the delimitation, then the election. The formation of a cabinet (in J&K) is the third step. We would want the PM to respond as soon as possible to the mandate of the people…We want to say that give us the state, we will run the cabinet.”
Omar Abdullah, who is heading the National Conference-led government in the state, has backing of other parties in INDIA alliance and four independents. The NC-Congress alliance won majority in the assembly polls.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and Congress won the assembly polls held after a gap of ten years. JKNC won 42 seats while the Congress, it ally in the INDIA bloc, could only win 6 seats.
The BJP put up a impressive performance bagging 29 seats. Peoples’ Democratic Party won three seats and one each by the People’s Conference, CPI-M and AAP. Seven seats were also won by the Independents.
Omar Abdullah had earlier served as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 and 2015.
