NC-led govt will fulfil all election promises: CM Omar in J&K Assembly

Jammu, Mar 6 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday assured people that the National Conference-led government will fulfil all its poll promises including those related to prisoners and “arbitrary” termination of government employees.

He said his government is formed for a full five years, expressing hope that the next budget session of the assembly will be thrown open by the governor instead of the lieutenant governor.

Winding up the discussion on motion of thanks to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s address in the legislative assembly here, Abdullah said a lot was talked about the NC manifesto which “we have prepared with a lot of thought and is our promise to the people of J&K”.

“When we put forth our manifesto before the people we told them that give us five years…we assure the people that we will fulfil all the promises from A to Z, whether related to prisoners or termination of government employees. We are promise bound to do that,” the chief minister said.

In its manifesto, the National Conference had promised to prioritise the release of political prisoners and youth who have been “unjustly” detained in jails and are not involved in serious crimes besides seeking amnesty for all political prisoners.

The manifesto also talked about ending “unjust” termination of government employees and said “it will address and rectify cases of unjust job terminations, ensuring fair treatment and job security for all employees”.

Referring to the some members’ criticism of LG’s address, Abdullah said the LG cannot replace his earlier speech made in the November session shortly after the formation of the government and that it is in addition to that speech.

“Some (members) termed it as a love letter (from NC to BJP)…I do not go into it but want to make it clear that we made new additions and next year I hope that when we will meet (for budget session), there will be a Governor instead of Lt Governor,” he said.

Abdullah also referred to the speech of Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma defending the use of Public Safety Act and said “if you are using PSA then your case is weak…you put me under preventive detention (in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370) for six months because there were no charges against me. But it is better to use relevant sections of law against the stone pelters or overground workers who have been booked under PSA.”

He questioned Sharma for linking Article 370 with development and terrorism and said “whether the developmental projects he spoke about were possible only with the abrogation of Article 370”.

Most of these projects started before 2014, he said and challenged the BJP leader to tell the House about one project which was not possible to be completed under Article 370 status.

Abdullah also questioned the political reservation granted to the Scheduled Tribe community and said the number of Gujjar leaders in the House dropped from nine to six.

“What miracle happened after abrogation of Article 370? Shakti Raj Parihar (BJP) talked about ending nepotism, corruption and terrorism while the LoP is blaming Pakistan for terrorism. Who is right?

“If Pakistan is behind the terrorism then why blame Article 370…if Article 370 was responsible, then why terrorism spread to Jammu region after its abrogation, the areas which were declared terrorism-free during my (previous) tenure,” he said.

The attacks on pilgrims in Reasi, civilians in Rajouri and other places in the past few years stand testimony that Article 370 was not responsible for terrorism, he added.

He said the BJP members raised the issue of the fraud in Jal Jeevan Mission showing that the corruption has not ended.