STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is not an issue for his party in the Lok Sabha polls, asserting that it will get the statehood anyway in view of commitment by the prime minister and the Union home minister.
Abdullah also said the results of the Lok Sabha polls will have an impact on the upcoming assembly elections in the Union territory.
“Statehood is not an issue for us. Our battle is not for statehood, we will get the statehood anyway. Why should we waste people’s time on an issue that the PM and the home minister is committed to?” Abdullah told reporters in Kupwara district where he was campaigning.
The former chief minister is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla which will vote on May 20.
“If this government somehow comes back to power, which seems increasingly impossible now, they are committed to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. If the government changes, which we are hoping for, our effort will be that we get full statehood before the assembly elections take place,” he added. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, Home Minister Amit Shah had assured the country that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.