Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday expressed hope that Jammu and Kashmir's Union Territory status is a temporary phase and that the central government fulfils its promise of restoring its statehood.
"It has been a little over two months since we came to power. It took us time to understand how the UT government works. We have been associated with the government earlier, but there is a vast difference between that form and the present form," Abdullah said at a media interaction at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here.
The chief minister said the start of the new government has been "decent" and that they "did not find much difficulty" in it.
"We are bound by our election promises. We have started the process of implementing some of the promises and for other promises, we need change in the system. I hope J-K being a UT is a temporary phase," Abdullah said.
He said it is important to understand that his party's manifesto was for a five-year term, not five weeks or five months.
"Some issues were important to us and we fulfilled those including the resolution on the statehood, and the resolution on the special status," he said.
"We the people are now expecting that the promises made with us will be fulfilled. The biggest promise is the restoration of the statehood. The Supreme Court in its judgement had also stated that the statehood should be restored as soon as possible. One year has passed since and we think one year should be enough," he added.
Abdullah said the sentiments of the people should be respected their aspirations fulfilled.
When asked why his government went to New Delhi with the resolution on the restoration of J-K's statehood, instead of approaching courts, Abdullah said a legal fight on the matter should be the last option.
"Simply going to court will be a fight. A fight should never be the first option, it should be the last option. If the SC had not spoken about the restoration of the statehood, if prime minister and (Union) home minister had not spoken about it, then we could have gone to courts. They have made promises and we have to give them a chance first," he added.
He said no chief minister of a Union territory is as empowered as a chief minister of a state. "That is a fact. There is no point of living in denial. If I were an empowered CM, why would I ask for restoration of statehood." Brushing aside speculation that the Centre was trying to destabilise his government and that NC was going to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Abdullah "There is no pressure from the PM, home minister or Raj Bhawan on us to change our ideology. I have been told by the PM and the home minister that your government will not be destabilised, and that we will give you same cooperation as given to the LG.
"They have stated they will respect the mandate of the people. Those spreading rumours that I will now join NDA, and that I have changed my ideology, I cannot help that. I am here to work and I will work," he said.
Addressing reporters gathered, the chief minister termed the occasion an interaction and not a press conference. "We are not making any big announcements as was being speculated on social media. We only wanted to have an interaction. We will try to answer your questions," he said.
"I would like to have this kind of interaction without any agenda at least twice a year," he added.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
