Omar Abdullah Urges PM Modi to Restore J&K Statehood: ‘L-G Got Promoted, I Got Demoted’

Omar Abdullah Urges PM Modi to Restore J&K Statehood: Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday raised the subject of statehood for the union territory before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming he had been demoted.

Abdullah was sharing a stage with PM Modi and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, during the inauguration ceremony of various developmental projects, including the Chenab bridge and the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat express.

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“I have been fortunate to be associated with the Prime Minister in all railway projects in J&K. First, when Anantnag Railway Station was inaugurated. Second, when the Banihal Railway Tunnel was inaugurated,” Abdullah said in his address.

By bringing up the statehood issue, Abdullah had jokingly said while LG Manoj Sinha was moving up from a junior, he had taken a demotion from the CM of a state to a CM of a UT.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Chenab railway bridge, the world’s highest rail bridge, which marks a historic moment in the country’s infrastructure journey.

"The same four people were present here in 2014 when the Katra Railway Station was inaugurated... While the then MoS Railways, Manoj Sinha, got promoted to the post of J&K LG, I got demoted from CM of a state to CM of a UT. But things will get back to normal before we know it, and J&K will be given the status of a state by PM Narendra Modi," he added.

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Once PM Modi landed at the Air Force station in Udhampur, he flew to the outcome site of the Chenab bridge, marking the formal inauguration of the bridge.

This trip marks also PM Modi’s first trip to Jammu and Kashmir in a while, after Operation Sindoor, a cross-border military strike, that took place following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26.

During the visit, Prime Minister Modi also interacted with engineers, workers and officials involved in the implementation of the ambitious plan to connect Kashmir to the rest of India by rail.

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