Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday expressed disappointment with INDIA ally Congress for deciding to go solo in its push for the restoration of statehood, claiming that the national party never sought their support.

The Congress has launched a campaign for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, starting with a recent letter from the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and party president Mallikarjun Kharge urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to delay it any further.

The Congress staged a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, where they claimed that the Centre was going back on its word after making repeated promises to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Reacting to the Congress’s calls to join protests, Omar said the party should have spoken to them first, but they were reading “about it in the newspapers”.

“Nobody spoke to us. The last time there was a meeting of the INDIA bloc, there should have been a mention of it. Why should we stay back? We were the first to raise our voices for it. We got a resolution passed in the cabinet (for statehood restoration). We even moved a resolution in the Assembly. It is another thing that there could be no debate on it because of (some other) situation,” he said.

The chief minister said it was his party that pioneered the demand for the restoration of statehood, apparently taunting the Congress for waking up late.

“After so many days, they remembered to agitate. It is (nevertheless) a very good thing, but if they need our support, our help, they should talk to us. Our colleagues will also join it,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra had recently claimed that Rahul and Kharge’s letter to Modi had the backing of
all 233 MPs of the INDIA bloc, but Omar’s complaint suggests its main ally in the Union Territory has not been taken into confidence.