Omar Abdullah won't contest any J&K assembly polls till it remains a Union territory

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said that he would not contest any Assembly elections as long as Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory. Ahead of the 1st anniversary of the Abrogation of Article 35A and 370 from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah, who was released from PSA detention in March after nearly eight months, wrote a column in the Indian Express saying, "To this day, I fail to understand the need for this move, except to punish and humiliate the people of the state."

'I am very clear'

“Having been a member of the most empowered Assembly in the land and that, too, as the leader of that Assembly for six years, I simply cannot and will not be a member of a House that has been disempowered the way ours has," Abdullah said.

"As for me, I am very clear that while J&K remains a Union Territory I will not be contesting any Assembly elections. Having been a member of the most empowered Assembly in the land and that, too, as the leader of that Assembly for six years, I simply cannot and will not be a member of a House that has been disempowered the way ours has," the former J&K chief wrote.

'My party has lost thousands of workers'

Sharing excerpts from his piece on Twitter, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir participated in democratic processes, shared in nation’s development but the "promise made with it wasn’t kept". He added that removing 370 may have been the "popular thing" to do, but going back on a nation’s sovereign commitments was not the right thing to do.

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“Many mainstream politicians were placed in “preventive arrest” a year ago and many more under illegal house arrest. Several are still detained. My party has lost thousands of workers to militant violence because we chose to be in the mainstream while opposing separatist politics,” Omar Abdullah said. He was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on August 4-5, last year and under the Public Safety Act. He was released, after 232 days, on March 24.

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