Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir would have its statehood restored, no sooner the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forms a government in the Centre, JD(U) president for J&K GM Shaheen said on Friday, following his meeting with party chief, Nitish Kumar in New Delhi.
Shaheen said the JD(U) president assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the matter would be discussed and that J&K would have its statehood restored following the formation of the NDA government at the federal level.
JD(U), which has emerged as a key player along with TDP in the just-announced Lok-Sabha election results, Shaheen said, will assist J&K regain its statehood.
“I met several top leaders of the party including its president Nitish Kumar in New Delhi who assured me that the issue will be discussed with PM Modi. I hope the J&K would have its statehood restored as soon as the NDA forms a government in the centre,” Shaheen said at a press conference after his return from New Delhi.
JD(U), he claimed, never supported the division of J&K into two separate union territories – Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh. The Centre scrapped the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and divided J&K into two UTs.
The JD(U) leader said that his party would spare no effort to deliver justice to the people of the former state and would fervently press for the restoration of its statehood.
“Making the high command aware of the problems that the people of J&K are currently facing is my moral obligation as the head of the party in J&K. My wish is that the people of J&K are treated with empathy by the party leadership,” he added.
