A day after leading a protest in New Delhi demanding the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said statehood is essential for restoring constitutional powers to the Union Territory.
Responding to criticism that the National Conference (NC) was focusing only on statehood and not on the restoration of Article 370, CM Omar Abdullah said constitutional provisions such as Article 370 or Article 371 have little meaning without statehood.
"A Union Territory has no powers. There is no state list or concurrent list. Any special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir, whether it is Article 370 or something else, depends on how the Centre and the state share power, and the Centre does not share power with a Union Territory," he said.
The NC had decided in June to take its demand for statehood to New Delhi on the first day of Parliament's Monsoon Session, saying it could no longer wait for the Centre to act.
The protest, led by NC president Farooq Abdullah, was disrupted as party workers were unable to reach central Delhi. Omar Abdullah said police had offered Ramlila Maidan as an alternative venue, but the party declined.
The NC had invited several opposition parties, including leaders from the INDIA bloc, to join the demonstration. While Congress leaders who are part of the Jammu and Kashmir government participated, leaders from other parties were absent.
Omar Abdullah said leaders from the Trinamool Congress, NCP, DMK and Samajwadi Party had committed to attend but were unable to reach the protest due to the situation in Delhi.
He said the demonstration marked the beginning of a broader campaign to remind the Centre of its commitments made in Parliament and before the Supreme Court regarding the restoration of statehood.
Addressing criticism from opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said the NC had invited all political parties from the region to join the protest, but they declined. He added that the issues of Article 370 and statehood should not be linked because the Centre could use the demand for Article 370 as a reason to delay restoring statehood.