Kejriwal: Ready to share experience with Omar in running ‘half-state’ like J-K

BJP has turned J&K into a half-state which means an elected government has minimum powers, whereas the Lieutenant Governor has more powers

PTI

Doda, Updated At : 07:34 PM Oct 13, 2024 IST

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP MP Sanjay Singh with party leader Mehraj Malik, who won from Doda constituency in the recently held J&K Assembly elections, during a public meeting in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir, on October 13, 2024. PTI

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday congratulated National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah for winning the Assembly elections and said that he should consult him in case he faces any problem in running a ‘half-state’ like Jammu and Kashmir.

“Omar Abdullah is going to take over as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the next few days. I congratulate him for being the chief minister of the INDIA alliance. We will fully support him in running a successful government and hope Jammu and Kashmir treads the path of development under his leadership,” Kejriwal.

“Delhi is called a half-state because the Chief Minister had limited powers. Now, they (BJP) have also turned J&K into a half-state which means an elected government has minimum powers, whereas the Lieutenant Governor has more powers. I want to tell Omar that if he faces any hardship in his work, consult me because I have run the government in Delhi for 10 years,” added the former Delhi Chief Minister.

Kejriwal, who has run into troubles with the BJP-led Central Government many times during his rule, was in Doda to thank the people for electing his party representative Mehraj Malik as the first member of the legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.

Malik defeated BJP’s Ganjay Singh Rana by over 4,538 votes besides former ministers Khalid Najib Suharwardy of the National Conference (NC) and Abdul Majid Wani of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party from the Doda assembly segment to become the first member of the AAP to register a win in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The AAP is formally supporting the Omar-led government and I hope his government will give Mehraj responsibility so that he can not only work for Doda but provide his services to the people of J&K,” said Kejriwal.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that Mehraj had not won in the name of religion but raised the basic issues like education, health and roads.

“AAP wants development of Doda and Jammu and Kashmir...We are not in the race to become MPs, MLAs, CM or prime minister for the sake of it but we are in the long struggle against the system and want to introduce a different type of politics in the country to improve the living standards of the people,” he said.

Thanking the people for voting Mehraj, Kejriwal said his party’s historic win will change the situation and the history of Jammu and Kashmir in the next 10 years.

“You have not only sowed the seed of the AAP but a different kind of politics. AAP is not a party but the name of a new ideology, new type of politics. AAP sets up schools to educate the children of the poor, transform government hospitals and provide free electricity to the people,” he said.