Rahul congratulates people on Govt formation
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 16: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today expressed happiness over National Conference leader Omar Abdullah taking oath as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and said the two parties will fight jointly to restore Statehood.
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Kharge was among a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and left leaders Prakash Karat and D Raja, DMK’s Kanimozhi and NCP’s Supriya Sule who attended the swearing-in ceremony here.
“We are happy that our alliance partner became the Chief Minister and it is a big success for J-K. Today, democracy has been restored and we will fight together to strengthen it. We will keep fighting till J-K gets back the Statehood,” the Congress president said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the formation of the Government and renewed his pledge to continue to fight until full Statehood is restored.
Taking to his social media handle X, Gandhi said, “Congratulations to CM Omar Abdullah and to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
The former Congress president said, however, Government formation without Statehood felt incomplete today.”
“Democracy was snatched from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and today we renew our pledge to continue our fight until statehood is fully restored,” Rahul said.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav hoped that Jammu and Kashmir will get the Statehood back and the powers that have been snatched away will be restored to run the new Government.
Yadav, who had come to attend the oath ceremony of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, revealed this to media persons at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
“The Statehood should be restored and it should not happen that the powers will remain with someone and the Chief Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers will have to address the public issues”, Akhilesh said.
Asked about the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, the SP chief said that “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will face defeat”.
In reply to a question he alleged that “BJP is trying to divide the people of Uttar Pradesh on the basis of religion. The people are very sensible and they will once again defeat the BJP in the byelection”, he said.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said he is sure Omar Abdullah, who took oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, will bring peace and development to the region.
The JD(S) patriarch congratulated the National Conference leader on being sworn in as the Chief Minister of J&K, which has a very special place in his heart.
“I am sure he will bring peace and development to the region. Farooq Abdullah (Omar’s father) is a dear friend, my best wishes to him as well. May God bless J&K which has a very special place in my heart,” Gowda said in an online post.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also extended his best wishes to National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on being sworn in as the CM of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Many congratulations to Shri @OmarAbdullah Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. On behalf of the people of Assam, we extend our best wishes for a successful tenure of the newly elected government,” Sarma said in a post on X.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too congratulated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a post on his X handle, Vijayan said it is a victory against those who undermine our federal democracy and secularism. “Congratulations to @OmarAbdullah on being sworn in as the new CM of Jammu & Kashmir.
Biju Janata Dal president and Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik has also congratulated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on being sworn in as the Chief Minister and Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking to X, Patnaik said: “Congratulate @OmarAbdullah ji on being sworn in as the Chief Minister of #JammuAndKashmir. I wish under your leadership Jammu and Kashmir develops further with the support of people. Best wishes.”
Cong not to join Ministry: Karra
The Congress today said it has decided not to join the Council of Ministers in the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Government as the party was “unhappy” that Statehood was not restored to the Union Territory.
In a statement, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hameed Karra said that the Congress has strongly demanded from the Centre to restore Statehood to J-K, besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again in public meetings promised the same.
“But, the Statehood has not been restored to J-K. We are unhappy, therefore, we are not joining the Ministry at the moment,” he said.
Karra, however, said the Congress would continue to fight for the restoration of Statehood to J-K.
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