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Omar Abdullah slams BJP for forming ‘shadow cabinet’ in J&K

Srinagar, March 1: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday slammed the BJP for forming an alleged ‘shadow cabinet’, saying that the government would fulfill all the promises made to the people and that there was no system of forming a ‘shadow cabinet’ in the country.

Speaking to reporters about the arrangements made by the government for the holy month of Ramazan, the Chief Minister said he has held a meeting to review the preparedness for the holy month. He said it is the government’s responsibility to provide all facilities to the people. “We reviewed every department and directed all to ensure every facility, be it power supply at the time of Sehri and Iftar, water supply, ration supply, sanitation and traffic,” he said. The Chief Minister also visited the residence of Ghulam Sibtain Masoodi, the father-in-law of senior separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq to express condolences. Sibtain passed away on Friday.

He was the brother of ruling National Conference (NC) MLA, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi. The Chief Minister also called on the L-G Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhawan to discuss issues related to the budget session of the Assembly beginning on March 3. Earlier, NC spokesperson and MLA Tanvir Sadiq said the government is hopeful that the Centre would restore statehood to J&K within the next few months. Tanvir also denied reports that he had spoken about any plan B or plan C if statehood was not restored to J&K.

The forthcoming budget session of J&K Assembly is expected to be stormy given the number of controversial private bill notices given to the Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather. One such private bill to be discussed in the Assembly, if allowed by the Speaker, pertains to the ban on alcohol in J&K. The bill has been submitted by NC MLA, Ahsan Pardesi. The other controversial bill, notice for which has been given to the Speaker by PDP MLA, Waheed-ur-Rehman Para, seeks to amend the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 to accommodate a provision of permanent residents of the erstwhile J&K state. It must be mentioned that the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 was passed by the Parliament.