Overview
- Speaking in Achabal, Anantnag, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister told supporters he would resign if bringing the BJP into government were made a condition for restoring statehood.
- He acknowledged a BJP tie-up might have accelerated the process but said he would not trade principles for speed, citing past PDP-BJP coalitions as a path he refused to repeat.
- He urged a peaceful, democratic campaign for statehood and warned against street agitation, pointing to Ladakh where he said firing began within an hour of protests.
- Reiterating the Centre’s stated three-step sequence of delimitation, elections and statehood, he said two steps are complete and warned New Delhi not to test people’s patience.
- Nearly a year after the 2024 assembly elections returned his NC-led alliance, the region remains a Union Territory despite the Supreme Court’s call to restore statehood at the earliest.