SRINAGAR: Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that the system of dual power centres in Jammu & Kashmir was to nobody's advantage - making a push again for the restoration of statehood for a region that has been a Union territory since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
This was Abdullah's first media conference in Srinagar after taking oath as CM on October 16 following a thumping win in the first assembly polls held since J&K ceased to be a state. While referring to the role of lieutenant governor (LG) and his own role as CM, Abdullah said that past two months were a learning experience to ascertain the elected government's authority, or lack of it.
"Dual centres of power are not to anyone's advantage. If a dual government or any organisation with dual systems of power was an effective means of governance or management, you would see it everywhere. An organisation has a chain of command but ultimately the authority is with one person. Whether it is in government, business, sports or security forces, ultimately systems work better when there is a single point of command," Abdullah said.
"We hope that J&K being a UT is a temporary phase. People participated wholeheartedly in October elections and country's leadership hailed that and now we are hopeful that the biggest promise of statehood by central leadership is fulfilled... Around a year back, the Supreme Court had directed Centre to restore the statehood as soon as possible. I believe one year is enough time since then."
To be sure, the CM added that while there may be "some differences of opinion", there was no confrontation with Raj Bhavan.
This story is from the January 03, 2025 edition of Hindustan Times Bengaluru.
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This story is from the January 03, 2025 edition of Hindustan Times Bengaluru.
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