Fresh elections after statehood restoration: LOP

Leader of Opposition (LOP) Sunil Sharma said on Thursday that Jammu and Kashmir would have to hold fresh Assembly elections if statehood were restored.

“Whenever statehood is restored, there will be new elections in the state,” Sharma, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, told reporters after meeting several delegations in Anantnag.

“If statehood comes today, elections will have to be held because the new constitutional arrangement will be that of a state. The elections held under the present arrangement were for a Union Territory,” he said.

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Sharma questioned the need for the government to continue if it lacked the authority to take decisions.

“If we have to wait for elections, what has CM Omar got to do till then?” he said.

“Has he come to enjoy? Have they come to live like kings? Have they come to exercise badshahi? Why is he deceiving the people?” Sharma said.

He asked CM Omar to dissolve the Assembly if the government lacked authority.

“Whatever you tell them, they say that I do not have anything to do. I do not have the authority. I do not have the power. I do not have the strength,” he said.

“Do we have to wait for five years for them to say that they do not have the power?” Sharma said.

He rejected allegations that the BJP wanted to topple the government. “We will never topple it. I promise you that the BJP will never topple it,” Sharma said.

“If it topples on its own, we do not have to be responsible for it,” he said. Sharma said the BJP would raise public issues, including statehood, during the upcoming Assembly session.

“We will not surround it, but we will raise people’s issues. We will raise people’s issues regarding statehood,” he said.

Sharma accused Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather of bias over the duration of the upcoming session.

“He is biased because he wants to save the government. He is a custodian of the Assembly,” he said.

Referring to CM Omar’s recent remarks on the statehood timeline, Sharma said, “He said that when Amit Shah will wake up from his sleep, the statehood will come. That means he knows when it is going to come.”

On Article 370, he said the decision was taken by Parliament and not by the BJP alone.

“The day the National Conference takes 275 seats to Parliament, tell them to speak about it,” Sharma said.

He defended the Centre’s development record over the past 10-12 years.

“All the development that has happened in the past 10-12 years has never happened. There is no comparison in it,” Sharma said.

“There is no need for CM Omar’s certificate in it,” he said.

The LOP also called for talks with daily wagers protesting in essential departments, including the PDD, PWD, and PHCs.

“I would also appeal to the daily wagers to call off their strike if the government agrees to negotiate. But at least take some initiative,” he said.

“As the Opposition, it is our responsibility to become the voice of the people because the government is not listening,” Sharma said.

“I have not come to topple any government. I have not come to seek votes. People form governments,” he said.

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