On October 16, 2024, Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, heading the first government elected after the abrogation of Article 370 and scrapping of its special status. A year later, the National Conference (NC) leader admits his situation, in the absence of statehood, is more difficult than he anticipated, and suggests that the Valley’s patience is running thin. Excerpts from an interview:
* Looking back, do you think you estimated the challenges of being CM of a Union Territory correctly, or has it been more difficult?
In some ways, I had no illusions that it was going to be difficult… And yes, it is fair to say I didn’t expect it to be as difficult as it has turned out to be, given that the J&K Reorganisation Act is pretty clear cut… The police and law and order are responsibilities of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), everything else the responsibility of the elected government, except some discretionary powers. The problem arises in defining discretionary powers.
I have said this before – a Union Territory with an Assembly is by far the most inefficient model of governance… This is not just to do with J&K… If you have an Assembly, then please be a state. And if you are going to have a UT, then please don’t bother with an Assembly and an elected government.
* The BJP argues that this model works in Delhi.
It doesn’t work in Delhi, it didn’t work for the Aam Aadmi Party government. As I understand it, it’s not really working very well even now. It’s just that because it’s a BJP government, they tend to talk less about the problems…
* Is this the reason that you have not been able to implement your party NC’s manifesto?
Our manifesto was not a six-month or one-year manifesto. It was a manifesto for the entire (five-year) term… Please judge us at the end of the term… But we were also very clear that parts of this manifesto were based on the assumption that J&K will get statehood. That hasn’t happened… And that is a problem.
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* At the same time, you have repeatedly said there is little to gain from a confrontation with the Centre.
Confrontation with the Centre is not just about statehood. It’s also about the peculiar problems that J&K faces… Even if we were a full-fledged state, I wouldn’t be picking a fight with the Centre where none was necessary. I didn’t do it in my (earlier) six years as CM, under the UPA government and then the better part of my last year with the NDA government too…
(But) It’s important to draw a distinction between having a working relationship with the Government of India and opposing the policies of the BJP. The NC has not compromised on its opposition to the BJP’s policies… But as an elected government of J&K, where necessary, we would like to have a working relationship with the Government of India. And if that can benefit the people, why should anyone have a problem?
I’ll cite two examples of advantages that have come from having a cordial relationship. In the last financial year, we received Rs 5,000 crore over and above the budgetary allocation for J&K. It allowed me to ensure that… my treasury didn’t run dry, there was no hue and cry over salaries, contractors weren’t screaming for payments. I was able to supply electricity to people in the winter, far in excess of what they were used to…
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Then, since COVID, the Government of India has had a scheme, SASCI or ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment’ – (which provides) a 50-year loan, interest-free and demand-driven. This was only given to states, UTs were excluded… This year, J&K was included… I told the Government that it’s unfair that UTs are being denied this… The scheme was made available to us and then extended to other UTs as well. It will open up Rs 1,500-2,000 crore worth of capital investment for schemes in J&K.
* Will your working relationship with the Centre continue irrespective of whether or not statehood is restored?
No. Obviously, not getting statehood – I won’t go as far as to say it will sour relations – casts a shadow. It can’t not. Because statehood is not a favour being done to J&K. It is a sovereign promise made in Parliament and to the Supreme Court…
What did they say? That it is a three-stage process – delimitation, elections, statehood. Two stages are done, why is this third stage held up? Then you cite Pahalgam. As I said in my speech on August 15, citing Pahalgam for holding back statehood poses two risks. One, you are punishing the people and the elected government for something that wasn’t their failure. Security and law and order are not the responsibility of the state government… Second, it shifts the onus of giving statehood from our country to another. If Pakistan was responsible for Pahalgam, as we understand it was – none of the militants killed belonged to J&K – you are effectively saying they will decide whether we get statehood or not… Which is a very dangerous precedent to set.
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* You also made 12 political promises in your manifesto. There has been no visible change on the ground.
We passed a resolution (seeking special status and constitutional guarantees) in the first Session of the Assembly. It was the cornerstone of what we had to do. On statehood, the Cabinet passed a resolution. That resolution was hand-delivered to the Honorable Prime Minister by myself. Now, there is some discussion on whether we should bring a resolution on statehood in the Assembly. We are looking at that.
But these two major political promises we implemented.
* You had also promised to repeal the stringent PSA (Public Safety Act).
PSA repeal is something a J&K government can do when it is empowered to do so. And I firmly believe it must be done. But when security and law and order are not within my government’s control, how can you hold me to account?…
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* Your opponents also raise promises you made which are very much in your domain, such as free power.
Some things we have started on. Free power, we have linked to the Prime Minister’s Surya Ghar Bijli Yojana… We have enhanced social welfare schemes for women and widows, old age pension, marriage allowance. Today the Cabinet has sought to remove education qualification for marriage assistance… We have made free transport available to women across all government buses. So we have made a start.
* What about rationalisation of reservations as per population?
The Cabinet sub-committee whose report was sent to the Law Department… it had some comments on it… We had also promised to restore the Darbar move, and in the previous Cabinet meeting, we took the decision, sent it to the Honorable LG.
* NC legislators admit growing frustration over not being able to do work in their constituencies.
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Who stops them? They have been given Rs 4 crore each (as Constituency Development Fund). Also, their suggestions were taken for the UT capital expenditure budget, and these are being implemented. Yes, as we have problems… they will also have some in terms of getting things done. One has to sort of reconcile one’s expectations with the reality of the situation…
* Some accuse you of not putting up any resistance to LG Manoj Sinha, of ceding ground to him. Like on transfers of officials.
Look, KAS (Kashmir Administrative Service) officials in revenue positions… they fall in the grey area… Our point is that they are only law and order when there is a problem, otherwise they are revenue. But the line which has so far been adopted is that they are law and order and therefore fall under the LG… In practice, every decision of the Cabinet is held up until cleared by the LG… It all comes down to interpretation.
* How is it managing governance without full control over the bureaucracy?
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It really depends on the mindset of officials. Some use it to their advantage by playing the Raj Bhawan against the elected government and vice-a-versa. Some unfortunately get stuck in the middle… I honestly don’t envy (them). This brings me back to the point that this is a truly inefficient way of working… Can you imagine if somebody told the Honorable PM that you run India, but you won’t decide who your Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, or other officers are?…
* NC ally Congress seems to be taking a different stand on the statehood battle, calling for protests rather than the route your party prefers.
One or the other will work, which is fine. That said, if it carries on like this, who knows tomorrow one of us will have to sit on the same sort of dharna.. That’s why we are very keenly watching what happens in Ladakh. Because if you are going to incentivise that method of getting your demands met, then you are telling us that my way doesn’t work… I have for all intents and purposes staked my political reputation on telling people that whatever J&K gets, it will get through being a part of India’s democracy and by having a good working relationship with the Government of India. If I am proven wrong, then the only other model is the model of agitation and confrontation…
I hope I am not wrong, but if I am, I will be the first person to tell people that I was wrong, my way was wrong and that you have to take a different route.
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* On Article 370, you have said we cannot ask it back from the very people who took it from us. But on statehood, you have been willing to engage with the Centre.
At no point has the Government of India ever indicated that they are happy to sit down and talk about 370, whereas on statehood, they have always said it will happen… If there was even the slightest indicator from the Government of India that we can talk about 370, why would we not?…
Even the BJP in its election campaign promised people statehood. And they always said that statehood has to come not from J&K but from Delhi. They got 28 MLAs… Why are they not fulfilling it? Is it because the BJP did not form a government here?