Uproar in LA, 4 legislators marshalled out, BJP stages mock Assembly in Well
SRINAGAR, Sept 28: The Legislative Assembly today passed a resolution demanding the urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir amid strong protests and walkout by BJP legislators.
The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and was passed despite opposition from the BJP. The BJP opposed the resolution, questioning the manner in which it was allowed by the Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather.
The resolution was passed by voice vote, with members from different parties and independents supporting it, while the BJP staged a walkout.
Home / Todays story / House passes resolution for statehood restoration amid BJP walkout
House passes resolution for statehood restoration amid BJP walkout
Daily Excelsior
04:14 AM Sep 29, 2026 IST
CM Omar Abdullah speaks on the resolution as BJP MLAs hold protest in the Assembly on Monday. -Excelsior/Shakeel
Uproar in LA, 4 legislators marshalled out, BJP stages mock Assembly in Well
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Sept 28: The Legislative Assembly today passed a resolution demanding the urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir amid strong protests and walkout by BJP legislators.
War & Conflict
The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and was passed despite opposition from the BJP. The BJP opposed the resolution, questioning the manner in which it was allowed by the Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather.
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The resolution was passed by voice vote, with members from different parties and independents supporting it, while the BJP staged a walkout.
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As Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather initiated the voting process after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah replied to the discussion, BJP legislators led by Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma walked out of the House.
The resolution secured support from the National Conference (NC), Congress, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and independent members.
It was put to voice vote after five NC MLAs, two PDP MLAs, one Congress MLA, and two independents withdrew their amendments. Majority of them favoured inclusion of restoration of Article 370, 35A and restoration of autonomy be included in the resolution.
Defending the move to keep Article 370 out of the statehood resolution, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, in his address in the Legislative Assembly on the statehood restoration said he has repeatedly asked the Centre what the appropriate time for restoration of statehood was.
Omar said J&K had already waited two years for the Central government to fulfil its promise of restoring statehood.
“The Supreme Court had directed that after the elections, statehood should be restored at the earliest. In which language does ‘at the earliest’ translate into a period of years?” he asked.
The CM questioned whether the Centre’s stance was that statehood could not be restored until terrorism ended.
“If you are saying that statehood will not come until terrorism ends, then you are effectively saying that the decision on the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir doesn’t lie in New Delhi but in Islamabad,” he remarked.
The Chief Minister said J&K had accepted that the decision on statehood rested with New Delhi and questioned the rationale behind attaching conditions to the Centre’s commitment
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“If you have already decided that the Prime Minister will not give statehood to us during his tenure, then it is a matter of great regret,” he said.
Defending the wording of the resolution, Omar said it had been prepared after careful consideration to ensure that nothing in it could provide an excuse for disrupting the House.
He added that the government had deliberately kept Article 370, Article 35A, and the issue of special status out of the resolution.
“Read the resolution and tell me where we are asking for a vote on 370, 35A or special status,” he asked.
Omar said that some colleagues had moved amendments seeking to bring these issues into the resolution, which, he said, could provide an opportunity to disrupt proceedings.
“My colleagues have fallen into that trap. When they add 370 and 35A to it, they give them an opportunity,” he said.
He said the government had anticipated that some members would not be happy with the resolution and might attempt to create a situation in which the House could not pass it.
“We prepared this resolution after thinking carefully. We did not want anything in it that could give the BJP an excuse to disrupt the House,” he said.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the Assembly had previously passed resolutions concerning special status, including one in 2000 during the government headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah.
“The House has passed a resolution on special status not once but twice. One was in 2000 under Farooq Abdullah,” he said.
He added that it was ironic that an attempt was now being made to reject what had earlier been done by the House.
“Today, an attempt is being made to reject what you had done yourself,” he said.
Narrating the difficulties faced under Union Territory status, the Chief Minister said that even for the resolution on statehood, the Law Department had sent an opinion to the Speaker claiming the matter was sub judice.
“I believe that the Chief Secretary also wrote to you. On whose directions was this done? I am the Minister in charge of Law, yet I have not even seen the opinion sent to you,” he said.
Omar further said the government had sent its Business Rules to the Centre nearly two years ago but was still awaiting approval.
“Nearly two years have passed since we sent the Business Rules to the Centre. They have still not been approved,” he said.
He pointed out that the delay was another consequence of the Union Territory arrangement and the limitations placed on the elected government.
The Chief Minister also pointed out the delay in the appointment of an Advocate General.
“Nearly two years have passed since our government was formed, but Jammu and Kashmir still does not have an Advocate General,” he said, adding that the government had already submitted its proposal.
Lashing out at BJP legislators who were shouting slogans in favour of daily wagers, the Chief Minister said that had Jammu and Kashmir been a State, the report on daily wagers would not have taken more than a year.
“Those who today show their so called sympathy for daily wagers should answer one simple question: why has the committee constituted to examine their regularisation still not submitted its report? They were given six months. It could have been done in four. The real reason is that Jammu & Kashmir is a Union Territory. Had we been a State, would this have taken more than a year?” he asked.
The BJP legislators created ruckus in the Assembly throughout the day against what they said was the Speaker permitting the resolution in relaxation of the Assembly rules. As soon as the Assembly proceedings began this morning, BJP members stood up and protested against the resolution.
The Assembly witnessed high drama as BJP legislators staged a mock Assembly session from the Well of the House, while the uproar led to the marshalling out of BJP and Congress members during the debate on the resolution.
During the parallel proceedings, BJP MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia targeted Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat over the references to autonomy and the pre-1953 position in the resolution.
“Do you want the restoration of the post of Prime Minister’s nomenclature in Jammu and Kashmir?” Mankotia asked Bhat.
The BJP had objected to the resolution, citing its reference to the 2000 autonomy resolution and the 2024 special status resolution.
The protests and counter-sloganeering continued inside the House, disrupting the proceedings repeatedly.
As the ruckus persisted, BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa and MLA Arvind Gupta, along with Congress MLAs Irfan Hafiz Lone and Iftikhar Ahmad, were marshalled out of the House.
The Speaker warned the protesting legislators of strict action and directed members to maintain discipline and decorum during the proceedings.
“Maintain discipline or face tough action,” the Speaker warned amid continued sloganeering and protests.
The Congress legislators also raised slogans and displayed banners during the proceedings, adding to the disruptions inside the House.
Peoples Conference president and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone during the debate on the resolution said J&K’s political status should be guided by the promises made in 1947 and not by the constitutional changes of 2019.
Lone said statehood is not a promise made by the Prime Minister or the Supreme Court. He said he had full respect for both institutions but objected to members repeatedly citing their assurances as the basis of the House’s claim.
“… if we are here today, it is not because of any promise made by the Prime Minister or the Supreme Court. We are here because of the promises made to the people of J&K in 1947,” he said.
His remarks drew sharp interjections from the BJP legislators as he invoked 1947 and the role of Kashmiris in bringing J&K into India. “We fought, you did not fight,” Lone shot back, telling BJP members to hear him out first and reply afterwards if they had an argument.
The PDP MLA Waheed Parra during the debate urged the government to explicitly mention the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A in the resolution, saying it should also condemn the developments of August 5, 2019.
“There are shared interests in which we all are in consensus. Many parties, whether we are different parties, but our mutual interests, whether it is trade, whether it is business, 370 ki wapsi, 35A ki wapsi,” he said.
Questioning the repeated resolutions on the issue, he asked, “Today, the new resolution you are bringing-how many resolutions will finally lead to a resolution?”
Parra said the Assembly should reflect what he described as the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
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