Vesting more powers in LG means J-K statehood still away: Congress

NEW DELHI: On the Centre vesting more powers in the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Saturday said it can only mean that full-fledged statehood for J&K is unlikely in the immediate future.

The Centre has increased the remit of J-K LG on matters related to decisions on police, officers of all-India services such as the IAS and the IPS, and sanctioning prosecution in various cases.

The powers were given to the LG by the Union home ministry on Friday through an amendment to the rules issued under the Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which was enacted for the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, while abrogating Article 370.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The only meaning that can be drawn from this notification is that full-fledged statehood for J&K does not seem likely in the immediate future."

He said that there has been a consensus across political parties that J-K must immediately become a full-fledged state of the Indian Union once again.

"The self-anointed non-biological PM is on record saying that full-fledged statehood would be restored to J&K, which had been reduced to a Union Territory in August 2019," Ramesh said.

"The Supreme Court had mandated that elections to the J&K Assembly should be held by September 30th, 2024," he added.

Last night, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified the amended Rules under Section 55 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, inserting new sections giving expanded powers to the LG, the Congress leader said.