'Would Rather Resign': Omar Abdullah On Allying With BJP For J&K Statehood

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he would prefer to resign rather than align with the BJP to ensure the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking at an event in the Anantnag district of south Kashmir, Abdullah said had he aligned with the BJP to form a government, statehood might have been restored sooner. "If an alliance with the BJP and a government formation with them were necessary for statehood restoration, then take my resignation and make any other other MLA the Chief Minister. I will not compromise," said Abdullah.

Citing the PDP-BJP alliance between 2015 and 2018 in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister said that he could have taken a similar approach. "But I chose a different path to prevent the BJP from gaining power in J&K" he said.

Abdullah said it may mean a longer wait, "but I will never allow the BJP to enter government through us".

The Chief Minister stated that the situation in Ladakh and public sentiment there has vindicated his stand on the Centre's decision of August 5, 2019, when J&K was bifurcated and stripped of its statehood and special status after the abrogation of Article 370. He said that those in Ladakh who had welcomed the abrogation of Article 370 now acknowledge that the article was a Constitutional protection that safeguarded their interests. "I have said it then and I'm saying it today, whatever happened on August 5, 2019, was wrong" said Abdullah.

Abdullah insisted that he would not support any protests for statehood in J&K and would rather use other democratic means to achieve the restoration of statehood. "In Ladakh, when people came out, firing started within an hour. Here in Kashmir, they won't even wait that long - bullets will rain within 10 minutes. I don't want people of Kashmir to suffer again. We will continue our fight democratically and peacefully," said Abdullah.

Abdullah emphasised that the fight for statehood will remain rooted in non-violence and democratic means, without compromising on principles.