Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday countered BJP allegations about his government’s bias against the Hindu-majority Jammu by pointing out how the saffron party had denied representation to Muslims in the central government.

Omar was responding to allegations of unfair treatment meted out to Jammu during relief distribution in the wake of the recent floods.

Replying to a question in the Assembly by the BJP MLA from Jammu North, Sham Lal Sharma, on whether a fresh rehabilitation policy had been formulated for the flood victims, Omar said the government had not come out with any fresh scheme.

“Landless people affected by the flood will be given five marlas of land on lease wherever available. The documentary process is on,” the chief minister said, adding that his government did not indulge in regional politics “like the member does”.

Omar later told reporters that the BJP was mistaken if it thought “we (NC) govern like them”.

“We don’t decide on the basis of religion or region. They have kept nearly 15 per cent of the population out of representation at the Centre,” he said.

“In the central government, they have not seen a single Muslim capable of becoming a minister. So, they should first do some introspection and then point fingers at us,” Omar added.

Two of the five ministers in Omar’s cabinet — deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary and Satish Sharma — are Hindus, who comprise around 25 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population.

The Jammu region has three ministers — two Hindus and one Muslim — while the Valley has two Muslim ministers.

The chief minister had also tried to strike a balance in the recent Rajya Sabha elections. His party won three out of the four Rajya Sabha seats. Two of the winners are Muslims and the third is a Sikh.

Omar also rubbished allegations of the National Conference having a “secret understanding” with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls.

“We are the ones who took them on in the Rajya Sabha elections. Nobody else did. The Congress could have fielded a candidate but chose not to,” he said.

The NC has been accused of helping the BJP win the lone Rajya Sabha seat through “cross-voting”.

Statehood hope

On the demand for the restoration of statehood, Omar said his hopes were fading as the issue was dragging on.

“The more this process continues, it is a natural thing… hopefulness will definitely decrease. The more you make us wait, the less hopeful we will be. But it has only been a year, there is still hope,” he said.

In response to a question, he said that if there were no obstacles in governance in a Union Territory set-up, every state would be asking for it.

“If there were no obstacles in governance in a UT set-up, am I mad to seek statehood? If it were easy in a UT, then all states would have sought to be a UT,” he said.

SIR ‘haste’

Omar said the Election Commission should not rush to carry out a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but rather wait for the Bihar Assembly elections to get over.

“We don’t even know if the SIR will be beneficial to the people who get it. Let the election in Bihar be completed first, and then let’s see if the SIR was really beneficial or not,” he said.

“The Election Commission should not be in a hurry, or else it will seem like the commission is losing its independence and working under the pressure of a political party,” he added.

He said the controversial delimitation exercise conducted by the EC had already sowed seeds of doubt about “political bias”.

“The Election Commission should not make such a mistake again,” he said.

Airport recce

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said a five-member team from the ministry of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India would evaluate the status of a proposal for developing an airport in Kishtwar during their two-day visit beginning Tuesday.