Omar Under Pressure to Restore Article 370 in 1st Cabinet Meet

Srinagar: National Conference (NC) leader and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister-designate Omar Abdullah is under intense pressure from his well-wishers including party colleagues to get a resolution seeking the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 passed at the first cabinet meeting after taking the reins of the government.

Their argument is that if the resolution is passed either at the first cabinet meeting he would preside over after taking over as the chief minister next week and then placed before the J&K Assembly to get it rectified would silence his and NC’s critics who are opening accusing him of taking a U-turn on the issue.

Earlier this week, Omar Abdullah had while reiterating his party’s stand said that it would keep the issue of the Centre’s arbitrarily revoking Article 370 alive by raising it constantly but added that hoping for its restoration from the very people who “snatched” it would be “foolish”. He said, “Our political stand on abrogation of Articles 370 will not change. We have never said that we will remain silent on Article 370 or that Article 370 is not an issue for us now.”

But he also told a TV channel, “We know that you are not going to get it back from the government that took it away. So set that aside for now”. The assertion was seized by his political opponents to run him down by openly accusing him of taking a U-turn on the vital issue.

A senior party leader who wished not to be named at this stage told this newspaper, “We think if a resolution seeking the return of Articles 370 and 35A -even just for the record- is adopted at the maiden cabinet meet it will send a message across about our stand on this issue and also shut the mouths of our opponents who want to vent their frustration by publicly accusing Mr. Abdullah of betraying the people’s trust.”

He revealed that some other senior party leaders and “sincere” workers share this opinion and are trying to convince the Abdullahs to ensure the passing of Article 370 restoration resolution is listed on the agenda of the first cabinet meeting. “Some of them are of the view that placing such a motion before the Assembly immediately after its constitution may not be a wise move in the belief that it could create bad blood between the newly formed government and the Centre which may upset Mr. Abdullah’s desire and necessity to have a cordial relationship with it,” he said.

Both Mr. Abdullah and his father and party president have over the past few days repeatedly said that the immediate priority of the next NC-Congress government in the Union Territory would be the restoration of statehood. The Junior Abdullah had earlier this week in a statement praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him “an honourable man” in the backdrop of his promising to restore the statehood of J&K.

This too was seen by his opponents as a complete reversal in his attitude and opinion about the Prime Minister and exploited in public statements and social media posts against the chief minister-designate. As he has already announced that after the formation of the government, “I hope in the first cabinet meeting, a resolution impressing upon the Centre to restore the statehood will be passed,” his well-wishers want that a second resolution to be adopted at the same meet should be on the restoration of Article 370.

Mr. Abdullah had called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan here on Friday night to stake the claim to form the government. He submitted a letter of the NC president Farooq Abdullah stating that he has been elected as the leader of its 42-member Legislature Party and also the supporting letters from the 6-member group of the Congress and CPIM’s Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami, Aaam Aadmi Party’s Mehraj Malik and four independents-taking the number to 53 in the house of 90.

Mr. Abdullah told reporters here on Saturday that the swearing-in has been delayed as there is a procedure that has to be followed. “J&K has been under President’s Rule for the last seven years, and to end that, there is a process. It requires a note from the Cabinet, which then goes to Rashtrapati Bhawan and back to the Home Ministry,” he said. He also said that the holiday for Dussehra followed by Sunday too played a role.

When asked why the process is taking so long in the age of technology, he quipped, “Keep the technology to your offices. We once tried to form a government using a fax machine, and it didn’t work. We would be doomed if we relied on that. There is a procedure that has to be followed.”

He was referring to the then J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik’ claim that he had not received PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti’s fax staking the claim to form the government jointly with the NC and aided by the Congress and hours later on November 21, 2018, without acknowledging receipt of the fax, ordered dissolution of the Assembly, where the three parties held 56 of the 87 seats, ending the possibility of government formation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sinha on Saturday recommended revocation of Central rule in the UT. Official sources here said that probably on Monday the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra will endorse the Lt. Governor’s recommendation and forward a note on it to President Droupadi Murmu and she will subsequently while acting on the Cabinet advice revoke the Central rule in J&K. Or the Prime Minister will recommend revocation of Central rule in J&K to the President and later the Cabinet may endorse the same, clearing the decks for the government formation in J&K.

Mr. Abdullah said, “We are hopeful that everything will be completed by Monday. We will finalize our arrangements by Tuesday, and the oath-taking ceremony is likely to be held on Wednesday.”