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3 min readJammuFeb 11, 2026 06:28 PM IST
In a rare gesture, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked for his “unparliamentary” remarks to be expunged.
Omar was referring to remarks he made in the House Tuesday. The softening of his stance came as the BJP continued to protest through Question Hour, even refusing to list its questions.
Seeking to have the remarks expunged, Omar said that at times one gets “swayed by emotions”. “I regret if they felt bad about what I had said yesterday,” he said.
Without naming him, Omar, speaking ahead of a discussion on budgetary allocations to the health, education and social welfare departments, referred to Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma’s counters in the House. He alleged that while he “had only spoken about them without dragging anyone else’s name, their field commander, while leaving the House, even involved my parents and late grandfather”.
Turning to Speaker A R Rather, he said he “cared for them (BJP members) like his own MLAs”.
“When I say that I’m elected chief minister of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, I mean that I belong to voters on the sides of both the Treasury and Opposition benches,” he said to the thumping of desks from the Treasury benches.
He added: “Today morning, all their questions could not be taken up. It had been very comfortable for us as there were some questions, which would have been very difficult for us to answer. Now in their own din, their issues pertaining to grants will also get lost. Main nahi chahta hoon ki inke voters jo hain wo ignore ho jaye (I do not want their voters to feel ignored)”.
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He said he would have withdrawn his statement on Tuesday “if they had allowed me to speak”. “I had asked them to give me one minute to clear it, but their field commander (LoP) was not prepared to listen,” he said, referring to Sharma’s walkout from the Assembly.
He went on to say that after the walkout, BJP MLAs sought a clarification from him on their own.
“One must appreciate the army which did not abandon their position despite their general having left the field. Their commander can leave such a brave army in the field like this, but I will not leave them,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister’s statements came after the BJP protested for over two hours, demanding he clarify his position. When the Speaker asked if they would not want to ask their listed questions, one BJP leader was heard saying: “Not at the cost of our dignity”.
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