Srinagar, Sep 29: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday hit out at the BJP, accusing its legislators of seeking a salary hike while simultaneously trying to corner his government.
Interacting with reporters outside the legislative assembly after the sixth day of the session, CM Omar Abdullah as per Kashmir Convener said the BJP had let slip a strong opportunity to challenge the government on the statehood resolution. “Before the session, we were being threatened that we will take the government by force in the assembly, that we will do this, we will do that. But when we got a chance to do that, they did not stay in the house,” he said. “The BJP had a good chance on the statehood bill that they would ask us for an answer on the record of the last two years. They did not take a share. And our statehood resolution was passed.”
Describing the session as unexpectedly rewarding for the treasury benches, he said, “It has been very fruitful for us. I cannot talk about the opposition. I will talk about the treasury benches. We were not expecting that it would be such a fruitful session for us.” He added that key bills on ease of doing business and decriminalisation were cleared. The assembly’s final day on Wednesday will take up the Jal Shakti department’s report, after which proceedings will conclude.
On the pensioners’ bill, CM Omar Abdullah clarified that it had been passed, but pushed back sharply on the opposition’s salary demands. “Our salaries were not paid. I did not have any interest in increasing the salaries. There was pressure from different parties. Look at that letter, which has the signatures of almost all the honourable members of the BJP asking for a hike in their salaries. This is their habit. They want salaries as well as politics. I will not give them permission to do this,” he said.
Asked whether he accepted that Kashmir and India were changing, the Chief Minister struck a measured tone. “Change can be good or bad. There is change in India. We will discuss how good or bad the changes are. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, yes, Jammu and Kashmir has changed. We are trying to rectify those changes. The sea is slowly filling up. We are also trying to fill up the sea again,” he said, citing the assembly proceedings and a buyer-seller meet as examples of his government’s outreach.
CM Omar flagged the restoration of the old pension scheme as a major achievement that had gone underreported. “The media did not give much importance to this. We took a big step for our employees. We transferred them to the old pension scheme. Ek This was a very old demand of theirs. This will benefit thousands of government employees,” he said.
He also rejected any suggestion that his government was using political constraints as an excuse. “As I said in my speech today, despite the fact that the situation in Uttar Pradesh is not favourable for us, we are still not the kind of people who make excuses for not being allowed to work. We are doing what we can,” CM Omar said.
Turning to the Election Commission, he said it ought to introspect amid allegations stemming from media investigations. “The Election Commission should do some soul-searching. It is not as if all the opposition parties are against the Election Commission. No political party has brought the evidence. The evidence has come forward through the investigation of the newspaper. Instead of trying to hide it, I think the Election Commission should improve its work. We should try to avoid such allegations,” he said.
He then mocked the BJP’s demand that Gyanesh Kumar be honoured with the Padma Bhushan. “Why should he stay there? He should be given Bharat Ratna. How many years will it take to get Bharat Ratna? It will take at least two years for him to become the President. He has done so much for the BJP. The BJP has given West Bengal as a gift to the BJP. He is talking about Padma Bhushan. I think he is being treated unfairly. First, he should be given Bharat Ratna. After two years, he should sit in Rashtrapati Bhavan,” Abdullah said.
On External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s remark that India-China relations were better than in 2024-25, CM Omar said, “Jaishankar is not wrong. People were being told to throw Chinese TVs from their balconies. Today, we are not only meeting each other, but we are also talking to each other. And this is how we should live. We have always said that the better our relations are with our neighbours and other countries, the better it is for us.”
He added that improved ties with China were good for the country, but noted that relations with several other nations, including Bangladesh, were not good. “There are many other countries that we can talk about, but I will not name them. But the better our relations are with other countries, the better it is for us,” CM Omar said.
On the buyer-seller meet, the Chief Minister said the industries department and the trade promotion organisation were working to link local manufacturers, weavers and handicraft artisans with outside buyers. “It is not easy for us to send 100 people out of here. But when we bring 30-35 people from outside and make them meet with 100 people here, then somewhere we have this hope that the buyers will get the thing of their choice here and they will go ahead and place orders with these people,” he said, expressing confidence that long-term business ties would emerge from the initiative.
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