Srinagar, July 1: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday indicated that the much-anticipated expansion and reshuffle of his Council of Ministers will be carried out around the National Conference’s proposed statehood protest at Jantar Mantar on the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, with the exercise likely to take place either before or after the demonstration.
Speaking to Gulistan News, Omar Abdullah said the cabinet expansion had become necessary following the June 3 meeting at Dachigam, where ruling party legislators and supporting Independents voiced sharp criticism against several ministers, including the Deputy Chief Minister. The protest, meanwhile, will go ahead as scheduled, with the National Conference opening its statehood campaign to the entire INDIA bloc and other non-BJP parties.
The National Conference has thrown open its statehood protest to the entire INDIA bloc and other non-BJP parties, scheduling the demonstration for the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session at Jantar Mantar — a move aimed at turning up the heat on the Centre as the ruling party in J&K seeks to convert its electoral mandate into political momentum.
Sources told Kashmir Convener party president Dr Farooq Abdullah will lead the charge, with the NC simultaneously reaching out to all political formations within Jammu and Kashmir to ensure a unified voice on the issue.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who first announced the protest last month, has made it clear that the demonstration will go ahead despite his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a signal that the NC is not willing to let courtesy engagements dilute its core political demand.
At the heart of the protest is the party’s push for the restoration of statehood, a promise the Centre has made repeatedly — in Parliament, before the Supreme Court, and in public statements — but without a clear timeline. The demand has been the NC government’s defining agenda since October 2025, when its first Cabinet meeting passed a resolution seeking statehood restoration “in its original form.”
J&K’s statehood was stripped in August 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories. In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation but recorded the government’s assurance that statehood would be restored “at the earliest,” directing Assembly elections by September 2024. Though elections were held, the Centre has continued to maintain that restoration will happen at an “appropriate time” — a phrase that has become a running sore for the NC.
This protest marks the NC’s first major political mobilization outside J&K since returning to power, and is seen as an attempt to build a broader coalition of support beyond the Union Territory’s borders.
In a related development, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday indicated that the much-anticipated expansion and reshuffle of his Council of Ministers will be carried out around the Jantar Mantar protest, either before or after the event.
The protest and the expansion are now being viewed as two sides of the same coin — the NC seeking to project strength both on the streets of Delhi and within its own government in Srinagar.
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