Jammu and Kashmir: PDP leader Waheed Para hopeful over National Conference takeover

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People's Democratic Party leader Waheed Para said that the abolition of the President's rule from Jammu-Kashmir is the beginning of the process to reclaim what the people lost in the last 6-7 years, adding that the people's order was for restoring their dignity and protecting their identity, ANI reported.

The PDP leader said that people have put a lot of hope on the National Conference, and hope that the party will fulfil its promises.

Speaking to ANI, Para said, "People of Kashmir have voted for dignity. They have voted for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood. They have voted to restore the special status of Jammu and Kashmir which was robbed on August 5, 2019. This vote is not only to remove Presidential rule but to restore their dignity and protect their identity. I hope this is a start to the process to reclaim what we have lost in the last 6-7 years."

"People have a lot of expectations from this government. We hope that the coming government will fulfil all the promises that they have made in their manifesto on which they have taken votes," he added.

The Ministry of Home Affairs released a gazette notification on this matter on Sunday, as cited by ANI.

This comes two days following the meeting between National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha on Friday to take claim for government formation. Abdullah submitted letters of support that the NC received in the recent assembly elections.

According to ANI, after Abdullah met with LG Sinha, he said that the swearing-in ceremony could scheduled to take place on Tuesday (October 15) or Wednesday (October 16), as the LG conveyed that completing the necessary paperwork would take around 2-3 days.

NC President Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that the new government's primary goal will be to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Congress formally supported the National Conference in forming the government by submitting a letter of backing on Friday.

Support from the Congress, independents, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) paved the way for the National Conference to form a government in the Union Territory.

This will be the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the restructuring of the former state into two Union Territories.

The 90-member assembly state went to polls in three phases, the poll results were announced on October 8. The NC-Congress alliance won 48 seats, with the NC winning 42 seats on its own, while the Congress managed to win only six seats.

(With inputs from ANI)