Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday slammed reports on the alleged formation of a “shadow cabinet” by the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir to keep a watch on his government, saying there is no such system in the country.

Omar’s comments came on a day he visited the residence of Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s father-in-law Sibtain Masoodi to offer condolences on the latter’s death. Masoodi was also the brother of National Conference’s Pampore MLA Hasnain Masoodi.

“There is only one cabinet. There is no system of shadow cabinet in our country. The BJP has run the government till now. Now, the people’s government will do its work. There is no need for a shadow,” Omar told reporters in response to a question on the BJP’s alleged move.

“We have promised the people about meeting their expectations and we stand by our promise,” he added.

Omar was reacting to reports by a local news agency that claimed the BJP had formed a “shadow cabinet” to keep track of the performance of the NC-led government. The BJP has not reacted to the reports. The news agency said the BJP had “created a group of senior MLAs to closely examine the performance of different departments and to question their functioning both inside and outside the Assembly”.

In November, BJP MLAs ran a “parallel Assembly” from the lawns of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. They had even threatened to run a “parallel government” after several party MLAs were forcibly evicted from the House for creating a ruckus.

Jammu and Kashmir operates under a hybrid model of governance and the BJP’s alleged move betrays a precarious political situation where the lieutenant governor’s administration wields most of the power despite the presence of an elected government.

The Centre is also dragging its feet on the restoration of statehood, adding to the woes of the NC government. The latest development comes ahead of the budget session of the Assembly, which is expected to witness heated arguments on issues such as the restoration of the special status and liquor ban.

The BJP has 29 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly and they are opposed to the restoration of the special status.