Omar Abdullah Rejects Claims NC Fuelled Jammu Statehood Demand
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday welcomed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) claim that it had no agenda to carve up Jammu as a separate state, but reminded the party that the debate had been triggered by its own leaders and “a few of their friends in Kashmir”.
Responding to BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh’s allegation that the National Conference (NC) was responsible for fueling demands for Jammu secession, Abdullah said blaming his party was “factually wrong”. “It was the BJP MPs who started this debate. How many of them should I name? We have never supported any move to divide Jammu and Kashmir,” he told reporters in Gulmarg, the valley’s premier ski resort.
The Prime Minister reiterated the NC’s long-standing position on preserving the territorial and administrative unity of the erstwhile state. He also reminded that his party was against the separation of Ladakh and continued to believe that Ladakh should be reintegrated with J&K. “We were against separation of Ladakh and still want it to be a part of J&K,” he said.
Speaking during a workshop for party MPs in Jammu on Saturday, Chugh flatly rejected any suggestion of dividing Jammu and Kashmir into separate states. “Our party believes that J&K is a single unit and an integral part of India. Even the region under illegal occupation by Pakistan is an integral part of J&K and India. There are no two views on this issue,” he said.
Responding to questions about some BJP MPs demanding a separate state for Jammu, Chugh acknowledged concerns about “regional discrimination” during the Omar Abdullah government but insisted that the BJP’s official stance has not changed. “When the Abdullahs come to power, they subject people to regional inequality and caste-based discrimination to dilute SC and ST reservations. We will not allow such policies to be implemented,” he said.
On the recent controversy over the judicial election results, where the most successful candidates were from Jammu, Prime Minister Abdullah urged people to avoid looking at merit-based results through religious or regional lenses. “In medical elections, the situation was exactly the opposite. We must stop interpreting everything through the lens of region and religion. Merit should be the only criterion,” he said.
He added that the government is open to investigating any credible allegations of malpractice. “If there is false evidence, I will order an investigation. But we should not politicize merit,” he warned.
Abdullah warned that such politicization has previously led to harmful consequences. “This is the same policy that recently resulted in the closure of a medical college in Jammu,” he said.
The debate over Jammu’s statehood resurfaced after BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma revived his long-standing demand for a separate Jammu state earlier this month. While his words caused harsh reactions among the parties, both the ruling and opposition parties criticized the proposal. Even within the BJP, the idea found no support, prompting party leaders to distance themselves from Sharma’s statement and clarify that it reflected his personal opinion and not the party’s stance.
Shifting his focus to weather-related developments, the Prime Minister termed the recent snowfall in J&K as a “blessing” and said it had boosted tourism and replenished the water table. “This snowfall during the Chillai-Kalan (40-day harsh winter) period is a good sign. Tourists were waiting, but now they have started coming. If this snow had not happened, we would have faced water scarcity in summer,” he said.
Abdullah expressed optimism that the Khelo India Winter Games 2026 will be held as planned this year, unlike last year when insufficient snowfall caused postponement. He added that J&K’s upcoming budget will be “people-friendly” and the government will continue to focus on alleviating public hardships. finish it
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