Omar Stakes Claim

After being elected as the leader of the legislative party unanimously by the National Conference(NC),Omar Abdullah has met the Lieutenant Governor(LG) of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha staking claim for the government formation with letter of support from the Congress and independents. Omar has clarified that he met the LG and handed over the letters of support, “I met the LG and handed over letters of support that I have received from the Congress, CPM, AAP and independents. I requested him to fix a date for the swearing-in ceremony so that the government can start functioning. It will be a long process as there is a Centre rule here. The LG will first send the documents to Rashtrapati Bhawan and then to (Union) Home Ministry. We have been told it will take two to three days. So if it happens before Tuesday, we will have the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. All I want to say is that Jammu will not be ignored in this government”. The National Conference (NC) has been repeatedly stressing on inclusive governance in Jammu and Kashmir after it got the mandate from the people by emerging as the single largest party. It has won a majority of seats in the UT. Major chunk of these seats have been clinched from Kashmir region and it has also managed to get seats in Jammu region too. Though the BJP has emerged as the choice of people in the Jammu region. But it does not have the mandate to muster enough seats to form the government. Both the leaders of the National Conference, the father-son duo of Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah are sending clear signals that the government will not ignore the people of Jammu. In spite of the fact that people have not given the party a clear mandate from Jammu. That is a good sign. After witnessing decades of regional animosity between the two regions there is a need to bridge the trust deficit and work for the restoration of democracy and people’s participation in mainstreaming the people. Not only that Omar Abdullah who is now the unanimous face of the NC-Congress Alliance for the Chief Ministership has made it clear that the new government will have to work in unison with the Central Government and not raise the issue of restoration of the special status and reimplementation of the Article 370 till a favourable government takes the reins of power in New Delhi. It is a pragmatic approach. The reason being the absence of electoral democracy for nearly a decade in Jammu and Kashmir. There is a need to bridge the trust deficit among the people. Another issue that needs to be addressed immediately is the nomination of the MLA’s. After the political reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and transforming it from a state to a UT there is change in terms of nominating the MLA’s. This procedure must not get mired in controversy and stall the government formation and the constitution Assembly. Emphasis must be to include the well-meaning people who can contribute to the well-being of all sections of the society that includes the marginalised sections and terrorism affected communities like the internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits and other refugees. Inclusion of people from these sections must ensure that the nominated MLA’s are visionary people and not mere puppets. So that the problems of the affected sections are solved by their intervention. Otherwise, it will lead to losing the opportunity to provide dignity of life to these people after decades of suffering.