Srinagar, May 06: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday accused PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, of misleading people on Article 370 and asserting he would not follow her example by making “false promises”.
“Now I can understand some of these critics are masters at befooling people. It’s all they have ever done. In the case of some of them, their entire political career is founded on lies,” Omar said in an interview to a national television channel as per Kashmir Convener.
“I am not going to join them. I am not going to be the one to befool people that I am going to Delhi to get Article 370 for you,” he said.
The Chief Minister described any discussion with the current government at the Centre on restoring Article 370 as a “waste of time” and “tantamount to befooling people”.
“Those who are not ready to give you statehood, will they be ready to give you Article 370?” he asked.
CM Omar termed the delay in restoring statehood “deeply unfair” to the people of J&K, and questioned whether they were being punished for not electing a BJP chief minister.
“If that is the case, the BJP should have stood up in Parliament or told the Supreme Court that till a BJP chief minister sits in J&K, you will not get statehood… Then I would have believed that these people are telling the truth,” he said.
He recalled that the Centre had repeatedly outlined a three-step roadmap — delimitation, elections and statehood. While the first two steps were completed, his government would complete two years in office this October, he said, stressing that the timeline had moved well beyond the “early” restoration promised in Parliament and to the Supreme Court.
Dismissing reports of poaching attempts on National Conference legislators as “baseless”, CM Omar asserted that neither he nor his government functions on anyone’s instructions.
“There is no such MLA in the National Conference who would leave the organisation to help the BJP. This has been mentioned in the Assembly as well,” he said on the sidelines of a visit to Tangmarg.
He alleged that certain elements had acted on the BJP’s directions during elections, a claim he said was proven through RTI queries. “These are the same people who helped the BJP in the elections as per their instructions. And we are not saying this now. This has been proven under RTI,” he said.
Rejecting speculation of a switchover, Omar said, “Do you think that if some MLAs had been preparing to leave for a few days, I would have been sitting here at these functions? These are baseless things.”
The Chief Minister also hinted at a strong political message he plans to deliver after Eid, saying he was holding himself back as the occasion did not permit a political address.
“Trust me, I want to burst like a cloudburst,” he said, adding that he would speak openly at a public gathering after Eid.
On the development front, Omar said students are central to J&K’s future and that the government is working to strengthen education, employment and economic opportunities. He highlighted the lack of adequate private universities in the region and said a Private University Bill has been passed, with rules being framed.
On employment, he acknowledged that government jobs alone cannot address unemployment but said a target of 20,000 to 25,000 government jobs has been set for this year. He also highlighted self-employment initiatives such as Mission Yuva to improve access to loans for young entrepreneurs.
“We want a day when we can stand on our own,” Omar said, adding that sustained efforts in education, employment and infrastructure would help achieve that vision.
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