Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha being greeted by CM-designate Omar Abdullah.
PTI
Srinagar: The first signs of friction between Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha and the newly elected Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir became apparent on Thursday during the Union Territory (UT) Foundation Day celebrations at Raj Bhawan.
Abdullah and his ministers skipped the function, which sparked criticism from the LG.
Speaking at the event, Sinha while criticising the Chief Minister for exhibiting “duplicity of character,” said, “Those who take oath under Indian Constitution and oppose J&K as UT reflect their dual character.”
“Jammu and Kashmir’s current status as Union Territory is a reality. The day statehood is restored, we will celebrate that also,” he said and added statehood will be restored at an “appropriate time.”
“The Prime Minister and (Union) Home Minister had promised that first delimitation exercise would be done and after that election would be held in Jammu and Kashmir and then statehood will be restored. Delimitation and elections have already been done. We may not know the exact timeline for statehood restoration, but it is an ongoing process,” the LG added.
On Wednesday, ruling National Conference (NC) had said it would stay away from the Union Territory’s foundation day celebrations on October 31 as it does not accept the status and wants restoration of statehood at the earliest.
“No one from the party will attend the UT foundation day function as we don’t accept the status,” NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told reporters here, adding that NC believes the decision taken on August 5, 2019, to bifurcate the erstwhile state into two UTs — J-K and Ladakh — was “illegal, unconstitutional and immoral”.
Political analysts believe this incident could signal escalating tensions and a challenging relationship between the elected government and the Raj Bhawan in the future.