A day after the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to grant statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after maiden assembly elections, former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah aired apprehensions that the Union Government will give a truncated statehood after polls.
Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will come up after assembly polls and that a call on the timing of elections will be taken by the Election Commission.
"I had clearly stated that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir after elections", he said.
Reacting to Home Minister's statement, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said, "I think Union Government do not want to give us statehood. They will give truncated state after the elections".
"BJP wants to change the demography of J&K"
Abdullah also alleged that the motive behind the delimitation exercise, completed in UT, is to turn J-K into a Hindu majority state.
"They think that we are fools, but we are not. We know what their intention is, if this was not their intention, they would not have done delimitation as well, as the way they did. They want that it should be converted into a Hindu-majority state,", a news agency quoting Dr. Farooq Abdullah reported.
Amit Shah promised statehood after assembly elections in J&K
Union Home Minister said on Tuesday that the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will come up after assembly polls.
"I had clearly stated that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir after elections", he said.
Asked about his earlier statement mentioning the emergence of new leadership in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said that new leadership will emerge from local bodies where polls had been held earlier.
He said that new leadership will emerge from the Panchs, Sarpanchs, and other elected members of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in J&K.
Lambasting opposition parties for criticizing the government's policy on Kashmir, Shah said, "As far as elections are concerned, do they not remember the local body polls, these were held under our rule, these did not take place for 70 years. Three families were holding sway in Jammu and Kashmir and they are making noise. Farooq Abdullah had gone to England. In whose tenure, terrorism grew, who allowed it to grow, there should be an answer".
