On Abdullah’s promise of statehood

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Files | Photo credit: Imran Nissar

Almost two years ago, National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah, then 54, was beaming over his massive electoral victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winning 42 seats in the 90-member J&K Assembly. BJP won 29 seats while PDP only three. As Mr. Abdullah completes two years in power, the once cautious future Chief Minister of the young and powerless Union Territory (UT) seems visibly dejected and exhausted.

Mr. Abdullah’s victory in the 2024 elections was an inflection point not only for J&K but also for NC, which has ruled the region for more than four decades. The massive voter turnout of 63.8% in a region that has been marred by violence and experienced an electoral boycott since the 1990s was baffling but also a major boon for the party. The faith shown by the people demanded that immediate attention be given to the work to be done in the various regions of J&K. In Kashmir, people expected to end the sense of siege; both bureaucratic and security-wise.

Waiting State: Jammu and Kashmir and Statehood

Even though J&K was reduced and divided into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh, both the regions remained restless to some extent. While in the face of growing agitation in Ladakh, the Center has agreed to renegotiate the provisions under Article 371 to grant it special status again, statehood for J&K remains a distant dream.

Statehood, which may not help address political aspirations in J&K, remains key for Mr Abdullah to maintain the party’s grip on his constituents. At the first meeting of the government in October 2024, a resolution was adopted that called for the “restoration of statehood in its original form”. Following its approval, Mr Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and presented a cabinet resolution that also emphasized the J&K government’s “commitment to protect the identity and constitutional rights of the people of the region”.

However, the cold shoulder shown by the Center to the statehood demand has visibly drained the political capital of Mr. Abdullah, whose party lost the 2025 Budgam bye-election; the seat was won by Mr. Abdullah in 2024.

An attempt at reinvention

The party, which failed to force the Center to negotiate with the NC on the issue of statehood, seems to have decided to harden its stand. The party’s recent resolution in the J&K Assembly on 28 September on statehood with reference to the 1953 special position and the 2000 resolution on greater autonomy was aimed at consolidating the party’s position in the face of declining popularity among the masses.

Consciously choosing not to have a confrontational but working relationship with the Centre, Mr. Abdullah appears to have embarked on a new path. Moreover, holding a protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20 this year and his growing presence in the INDIA bloc are indicators that Mr. Abdullah is re-emerging. This comes after his attempts to praise Mr. Modi at public functions and on social media have done him little in a model of governance in which he has little say.

Mr. Abdullah’s tough posturing, evident in the assembly where he appointed top officials going against him, comes against a backdrop of his balancing act that is yielding no results. J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha’s absolute power over the police, bureaucracy and universities has marginalized and exhausted Abdullah’s government and his person. The insult that Mr. Abdullah faced at the hands of Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Legal Secretary Achal Sethi further overshadowed the position of the Chief Minister. Without taking the Chief Minister into confidence, the two leaders wrote to the Speaker of the J&K Assembly opposing the government’s move to move the statehood resolution, termed “sub judice”.

Two years later, the Transaction of Business rules, necessary to determine the powers and limits of the Chief Minister, Council of Ministers and LGs in the Union Territory, remain undecided, with the proposal moving between the offices of the Lok Bhavan and the office of the Chief Minister.

Mr. Abdullah’s options appear to remain limited and fraught with consequences. Batting Delhi in J&K will result in losing its voter base. On the other hand, attempts to do what the voters want will antagonize the Centre.

Published – 19 Oct 2026 0:15 AM IST