Omar Abdullah accuses Mehbooba, Lone of “political hypocrisy” over reservation issue

Facing outcry for dragging his feet on rationalising reservation quota in government jobs, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday (June 20, 2025) accused the Opposition parties, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and J&K People’s Conference (JKPC) chairman Sajjad Lone of “political hypocrisy”.

Referring to Ms. Mufti and Mr. Lone, Mr. Abdullah said these leaders had the opportunity to raise the matter earlier but “chose to remain silent for political convenience”.

“Why didn’t Ms. Mufti speak about it when she was contesting elections from Anantnag and seeking support in Rajouri and Poonch? She needed votes and did not allow even her party members to speak about reservation. Mr. Lone was closely aligned with the government for five years. While we were being thrown out of government accommodations and our security was being downgraded, he comfortably stayed in a government house. Why didn’t he speak about reservations then?” Mr. Abdullah asked.

Mr. Abdullah’s party had promised to rationalise the quota during the Assembly elections last year. This week, a Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) mandated to suggest recommendations filed its report. However, the government move to send the report to the Law Department for legal vetting is being perceived by the Opposition as “dilly dallying tactics”.

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“If I had wanted a delay, I could have extended the deadline by another six months. No one could have forced me to act. Yet, we chose to move quickly. The Cabinet accepted the Sub-Committee’s report and sent it to the Law Department for legal vetting,” Mr. Abdullah said.

Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed Ur Rehman Parra termed the “withholding of the subcommittee report a violation of democratic principles”.

“There is no room for secrecy in a democracy. Institutions must draw legitimacy from transparency, not concealment. The report directly impacts the future of the region’s youth and should be made public without delay,” he said.

Reacting to Mr. Abdullah’s remarks, Ms. Mufti said, “As Chief Minister, I ensured that 75% is reserved for open merit when some issue of NEET and other PG exams came up. I never sent the reservation to the Law Department. Now Omar sahib is pinning blame on others. Didn’t he promise to resolve this issue?”

Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation quota was revised under the Central rule after new categories like Paharis, Paddari Tribe, Koli and Gadda Brahmin etc. were included in 2024. The open merit category was reduced significantly less than 40%.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister opposed any proposal to divert waters from Jammu and Kashmir to any other nearby State. “I will never permit this. Our people in Jammu are already facing drought-like conditions. Why should we divert our water to Punjab? They already get water under the Indus Water Treaty. Did they ever share water with us when we needed it?” he said.

On the restoration of Statehood, Mr. Abdullah said he pins hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment. “The promise hasn’t been fulfilled yet,” he added.