J-K CM Omar Abdullah Thanks Kharge, Rahul For Letter To Restore Statehood: ‘Was Waiting For Oppn To…’
Congress leaders Kharge and Gandhi urged PM Modi to grant full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and include Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule in the upcoming Parliament session.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to press for legislation in Parliament's upcoming Monsoon session to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Kharge and Gandhi, the leaders of the opposition in the two houses of Parliament, also called on the government to bring legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
Reacting to the development, Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah both the leaders for raising this issue and said that he was waiting for the opposition to raise this issue.
“We are not demanding anything that has not been promised to us before. We have been told many times that we will be given statehood at the right time... Now, Jammu and Kashmir should be given statehood soon,” Abdullah said.
#WATCH | Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah says, "This is a good thing. I thank Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi for raising this issue. We are not demanding anything that has not been promised to us before. We have been told many times that we will be given statehood at the… https://t.co/ZlMGcNhJuo pic.twitter.com/oyZ8C8PZBY
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2025
In their joint letter to Prime Minister Modi, Kharge and Gandhi said that for the past five years, the people of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of full statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights, they said.
“It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union Territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India. This is the first time a full-fledged state has been downgraded to a Union Territory following its bifurcation,” the letter said.
“Your goodself has, on multiple occasions, personally reiterated the government's commitment to restoring statehood. In your interview in Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2024, you stated: 'The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it'. Again, while addressing a rally in Srinagar on 19 September 2024, you reaffirmed: 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood,” the two leaders added.
They have also requested that the government bring forward legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
The letter comes a day after the top Congress leadership decides to raise issues such as the Pahalgam terror attack, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, and rising atrocities against women in the country during the Monsoon session starting July 21.
Top Headlines
