SRINAGAR: BJP MP Tarun Chugh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, while describing the statehood resolution passed by the Jammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly as a “political gimmick”.
Chugh’s remarks came after the Assembly passed a resolution on September 28 calling upon the Government of India for the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The resolution became a point of confrontation between the ruling benches and BJP legislators, who objected to references to earlier Assembly resolutions concerning autonomy and special status. BJP members supported restoration of statehood but opposed the inclusion of references that they said related to Jammu and Kashmir’s pre-August 5, 2019 constitutional position.
The BJP legislators protested during the proceedings and later walked out of the House before the resolution was passed.
Chugh maintained that the Prime Minister remains committed to the restoration of statehood, while questioning the purpose and wording of the Assembly resolution.
The Assembly resolution itself does not restore statehood. It represents the elected House’s demand to the Government of India for restoration of the status. Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised as a Union Territory in 2019 following the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.
The BJP’s stated position has been that it supports restoration of statehood but opposes linking that demand with the restoration of the pre-2019 constitutional arrangement.
