Statehood vs Governance: NC and BJP To Take Battle to Srinagar, Jammu Streets in Rare Parallel Protests

Srinagar: Political tension is set to rise in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, as the ruling National Conference (NC) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prepare simultaneous protests in Srinagar and Jammu.

BJP’s “Secretariat Gherao” is scheduled to begin at 10 AM from Srinagar’s historic Ghanta Ghar at Lal Chowk. Party president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Sharma, along with Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, will lead workers towards the Civil Secretariat.

The party has said the protest as a response to Omar Abdullah’s “administrative paralysis,” citing corruption, outsourcing of government jobs, delays in Panchayat and urban local body elections, and the recent 6.83 per cent electricity tariff hike.

“People of Jammu and Kashmir deserve accountability, not excuses,” a BJP spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the NC announced on Tuesday that it would stage a peaceful gherao of BJP headquarters in both Srinagar and Jammu. The party said the action aims to hold the Union government accountable for promises made in Parliament and before the Supreme Court regarding constitutional guarantees and restoration of statehood.

“Our demands are clear; constitutional guarantees, restoration of statehood, clearance of the reservation file, and justice for the people of J&K. The mandate of the people is not a blank cheque,” NC stated in a post on X.

Senior leader Altaf Thakur alleged it was “an attempt to deflect attention from its own failures.”

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary countered by calling the BJP’s Secretariat gherao “political hypocrisy,” questioning why the party’s J&K unit was targeting the elected UT government instead of pressing its national leadership in New Delhi on statehood.

“We are tired of protests; what we want is jobs and stability. Though NC is right to remind the Centre of its promises. Statehood is not a favour, it is our right,” said a local.

NC’s announcement marks its first major street-level protest since the July 20 Jantar Mantar demonstration in New Delhi, coinciding with Parliament’s monsoon session.

Earlier in July, NC chief Farooq Abdullah and party workers staged a protest outside J&K House in Delhi pressing for statehood restoration.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has repeatedly argued that “statehood is the foundation for any meaningful special status, and Article 370 restoration would be meaningless without it,”.

The backdrop remains the August 2019 reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories following the abrogation of Article 370. In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision while observing that statehood should be restored “as soon as possible.”

Regional parties including the PDP have also raised similar demands, while the BJP maintains that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time.

Meanwhile, security arrangements have been tightened in both cities.