Er. Rashid to J&K Parties: Defer Govt Formation Till Statehood Is Restored

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Sheikh Abdur Rashid aka Engineer Rashid on Monday asked the INDIA bloc and its potential allies from within the regional parties and groups to defer their staking claim to form the new government till the restoration of (J&K’s) statehood.

“J&K is a Union territory and the elected government that will be formed here will have very few rights. I urge the INDIA bloc, PDP, Apni Party and other parties to unite and not to form the government till we achieve statehood,” he said while addressing a press conference here.

The suggestion has evoked sharp criticism from various political parties including the National Conference (NC)-Congress combine which as per the exit polls is anticipated to win 40-48 out of 90 Assembly seats and the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP which may get 6-12 seats and is likely to throw its weight behind the effort to stop the BJP out of power. The counting of the votes is scheduled to start on Tuesday morning and the final results are expected by the evening.

A senior NC while reacting to Er. Rashid’s “unsolicited advice” said, “It is either a case of ‘grapes are sour’ or he wants to make a room for horse trading and other manipulations, and it is quite discernible whom he wants to help.”

Former chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah in a post on ‘X’ said, “The man goes to Delhi for 24 hours and comes back to play straight into the hands of the BJP. The BJP would like nothing more than to extend Central rule in J&K if they aren’t in a position to form a government.”

Er. Rashid confirmed he had gone to Delhi and complained that the assets of the erstwhile J&K state including the Kashmir House in the Union capital have been dispensed between the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh “disproportionately”.

He accused the Gupkar alliance of doing nothing in the past five years for securing the rights of the people of J&K and said that if an alliance or even a single party wins the majority in the elections held after a gap of ten years it should instead of seeking to form the new government build pressure on the Centre to restore the statehood to J&K. “The AIP is also ready to cooperate with the parties on this matter,” he said.

He also called for resuming the age-old Darbar move or the bi-annual shifting of the government between J&K’s twin capitals-Srinagar and Jammu-asserting it served as a bonding between the erstwhile state’s two major regions socially, culturally and economically.

Asked if his party will extend its support to the BJP in the government formation, the AIP leader said, “My priority isn’t government formation but safeguarding the interests of J&K”.

Meanwhile, an application has been filed in the Supreme Court, pleading that directions may be issued to the Union government to restore statehood to J&K within two months. The application says that despite the assurance given by the Solicitor General that J&K’s statehood will be restored, the Union has not taken any steps in that direction since December last year when the Apex court had passed its judgement validating the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.