New Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday said statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will be granted at an appropriate time.
Rai said this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on whether there is a timeline to grant statehood to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The minister said the decision to schedule elections is the prerogative of the Election Commission of India.
He said this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on whether there is a timeline to hold the state elections in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, ANI reported.
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah had earlier lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for deviating from its promise and assurance that there will be no extension to the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission beyond March 6.
He had also urged the Centre to first grant statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and then conduct the polls.
The National Conference had earlier this month passed several resolutions, including a demand for the restoration of full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir along with the provisions of Articles 370 and 35-A of the constitution, during its day-long convention in Jammu.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had also vented his ire at the ruling dispensation last month and said that stripping the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was like demoting a chief minister to the post of an MLA.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had earlier last month said the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored after delimitation and election process concludes.
Earlier on August 5, 2019, the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was read down by the Parliament and the former state was bifurcated and downgraded into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.