Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the INDIA bloc must collectively decide the opposition’s response to the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2026.
Speaking to reporters after the inauguration of ‘Know Your Artisan’ initiative here, Abdullah said a meeting of the INDIA bloc has been scheduled at 3 pm on Wednesday at Congress president Malikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi.
“I will head there to attend the meeting. As for what the National Conference intends to do or not do, we will discuss those matters during that meeting because we cannot do anything on this issue alone. The INDIA bloc must collectively decide what our response will be on this bill, and what our role will be in the Parliament — whether in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha,” Abdullah said.
Asked whether the delimitation would have a positive impact, the chief minister said it remains to be seen whether the Bill is intended to benefit the BJP or the common voter.
He pointed to the delimitation exercise undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir in 2023 and said, “Based on our past experience, they can say that delimitation will benefit us. However, under that delimitation, attempts were made to benefit a single party or its supporters.”
“The manner in which seats were allocated here, the way constituencies were delineated, the way their boundaries were drawn, and the way certain voters were shifted from one constituency to another — the objective was to somehow ensure that the BJP and its allies would benefit,” he said.
“If this Bill is being introduced with the sole intent that the ultimate beneficiary should be the BJP and not the common voter, then that is something we have to see. But let us discuss it first today, and let the India bloc prepare its response, then we will talk,” he added.
To a question about the industrial incentive policy in the Union territory, which expired in September last year, the chief minister said the government is working on bringing a new incentive policy.
“We want that in the true sense, the policy should work. Otherwise, we give incentives from above, but at the ground level, there is no benefit from it. Investment doesn’t come, factories aren’t set up,” he said.
Abdullah said the department is trying to find out what the experience of the people who set up their units has been and what kind of changes they want in the policy.
“It is also trying to find out from those who want to set up industries here, what kind of policy they would want. We will mix these two. By combining these two things, an attractive policy will be brought from the Industries and Commerce Department, which I hope will give a boost to industry here,” he said.
