Omar Abdullah Accuses BJP Of “Blackmail Politics” Over J&K Statehood
Abdullah alleged that the Union government had deliberately conducted delimitation exercise in the J & K to tilt electoral advantages in favour of the BJP.
Srinagar : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of using Jammu and Kashmir’s demand for statehood as a tool for political blackmail.
Speaking to reporters here, Abdullah alleged that the Union government had deliberately conducted a “premature and politically motivated” delimitation exercise in the Union Territory to tilt electoral advantages in favour of the BJP and its allies.
Abdullah said the people of J&K had “suffered” because of the delimitation process. According to him, the redrawing of constituencies was executed with the sole intention of altering the political landscape to benefit the saffron party. “We know how the delimitation was done. It was carried out only to benefit the BJP and its allies. Now let us see what happens next,” he remarked, adding that such actions exposed the BJP’s “true political intentions.”
The last fully implemented delimitation exercise in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was completed in 1995. In that exercise, constituency boundaries were redrawn on the basis of the 1981 Census. Seven years later, in 2002, the J&K Assembly amended the Representation of the People Act to freeze any further delimitation until 2026, bringing the region in line with the nationwide freeze—a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court.
However, following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Centre constituted a new Delimitation Commission in 2020 under the chairmanship of Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Tasked with redrawing boundaries using the 2011 Census, the commission completed its work in May 2022. The final order increased the number of Assembly seats to 90 (excluding the 24 seats reserved for Pakistan‑occupied Jammu and Kashmir), allocating 47 seats to the Kashmir region and 43 to Jammu.
Drawing parallels with political developments in other states, Abdullah referred to the split in the Shiv Sena, asserting that Eknath Shinde’s rebellion was facilitated by the BJP. He also claimed that the Leader of Opposition (LOP) in J&K, Sunil Sharma, appeared “impatient” to assume power. “It is obvious that the LOP is eager to occupy the Chief Minister’s chair. I would only say this to him,” Abdullah said, without elaborating further.
Dismissing speculation of internal dissent within the National Conference, Abdullah asserted that his party remained united. “There is no Eknath Shinde in the National Conference. All our MLAs stand firmly with the party,” he said.
He further stated that the long‑pending cabinet expansion in J&K had been stalled solely because the region had not been granted statehood, not due to any political insecurity. Abdullah alleged that the BJP was deliberately obstructing governance in the Union Territory. “Until the BJP forms the government, they will neither allow us to function properly nor restore statehood,” he said, urging voters to recognise what he described as the BJP’s “blackmail politics.”
Abdullah also accused the opposition party of “threatening people in the name of statehood,” and urged citizens—especially those who had voted for the BJP—to understand the political narrative being constructed around the issue.
