BJP's Sunil Sharma challenges Omar Abdullah to resign and seek fresh mandate on statehood

BJP protest and challenge

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a protest against the Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday, with Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma challenging Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to resign from his Ganderbal seat and seek a fresh mandate on the issue of statehood restoration. BJP leaders and hundreds of workers assembled near the Clock Tower at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, carrying placards and raising slogans against the National Conference (NC) government, as reported by Daily Excelsior.

Addressing party workers, Sharma said the protest would march towards the Civil Secretariat from Lal Chowk. He criticised the government's handling of public services, stating that people in Jammu and Kashmir are facing hardships. "Today, survival has become difficult for the common and poor people," Sharma said, adding that despite a water crisis across the region, no fitter, executive engineer, or minister is visible. He also alleged that hospitals lack doctors and medical staff, and schools lack teachers and headmasters.

Sharma directly challenged Abdullah, asking whether people elected him "to live like a prince and go skiing in Gulmarg and Pahalgam." He dared the Chief Minister to resign from his home constituency and fight an election on statehood restoration, saying, "If you have any self-respect left, fight an election on it… Only then will we acknowledge it as your issue." Sharma asserted that the statehood issue belongs to the BJP, which has promised to restore it at an appropriate time, as per Daily Excelsior.

The BJP leader also accused the government of outsourcing 25,000 jobs and outlined four central issues of the protest: "selling" jobs instead of conducting fair recruitment, not conducting local body polls, "rampant corruption," and power tariff hikes.

Sharma's response to NC protest

The challenge came a day after the National Conference announced a peaceful protest outside BJP offices in Srinagar and Jammu on Wednesday over the Centre's commitments on statehood restoration and other issues. According to Greater Kashmir, Sharma was reacting to this announcement and alleged that the NC was invoking the statehood issue to divert attention from governance and employment matters.

"Statehood was not the issue on which the Omar Abdullah government sought the people's mandate in the Assembly elections," Sharma said, claiming that the NC had campaigned on issues including free electricity, employment, and ration rather than seeking votes specifically on statehood. He accused the ruling party of trying to deflect attention from allegations related to the distribution of government jobs, alleging that nearly 25,000 posts were being "given and distributed" among NC workers.

Sharma said the BJP's planned protest on Wednesday would focus on employment opportunities and what he described as the government's failure to provide jobs to the youth. He termed the NC's decision to hold its protest on the same day as the BJP's agitation "unfortunate," alleging it was aimed at shifting public discourse away from employment-related concerns. "Our protest will go ahead as scheduled. We will raise the issue of jobs not being provided to the youth," Sharma said.

The National Conference has announced its September 2 programme to press the Union Government for action on commitments made before Parliament and the Supreme Court, as reported by Greater Kashmir.