National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah Wednesday acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, stating that the return of Article 370 was unrealistic.

”Our political stand won’t change. We never said that we would be silent on the issue of Article 370 or that it is not an issue for us anymore. But we are not ready to fool people. I have always said that expectations of getting it back from people, who scrapped Article 370, is foolishness,” he told reporters in Srinagar.

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He said it would be like deceiving people. ”But we would keep this issue alive…We hope that one day the government would change, the Prime Minister would change and there would be a government with whom we would be able to talk on this issue and gain something for J&K…”

Emphasising the need for strong relations with the central government, he believes cooperation is vital for Jammu & Kashmir’s stability amid regional challenges.

“The PM is an honourable man… he promised the people of J&K statehood and I hope he lives up to that,” Mr Abdullah told a news channel yesterday.

On JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah’s statement that ‘Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister’, the JKNC vice-president expressed his gratitude for the confidence that his father has reposed in him.

But, he said that decision is for the legislators to make.

”It is a decision of the alliance to make. I love my father dearly and I am very grateful for the support that he showed me yesterday but finally the say has to be of the legislators and I am always one to do things by the rules and by the book. This is the procedure that has to be followed and that is what will be done…”

He said whichever CM is sworn-in in the next few days, there will be two sets of priorities – one is legislative, which will be determined by the members of the Assembly when the session is called but the other is, government-related.

”My own suggestion to the incoming government would be that first business of the cabinet should be to pass a resolution asking for statehood to be restored to J&K and the CM should travel to Delhi with that resolution, call on the senior leadership of the country and ask them to fulfill their promise….,” he said.

The newly-elected MLA, Omar Abdullah said first and foremost, they will wait for the Legislative Party Meeting which will take place tomorrow.

”Subsequent to the meeting, there will be the alliance meeting, it will determine the leader of the alliance. The leader of the alliance will then, I assume, take letters of support, go to Raj Bhavan, stake the claim and request the LG to fix a date for the swearing-in.”

He stressed that he would like that to happen as soon as possible because ”we have been without an elected government since 2018. Time has come when we get back to work…”

The NC-Congress won 49 of J&K’s 90 elected Assembly seats, with the BJP claiming 29 and the PDP of Mehbooba Mufti managing only three seats.