Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, announced on Thursday that the Centre might restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before October this year.
During a press conference in Srinagar, Athawale mentioned that the legislative assembly elections could also take place in October.
This follows the Supreme Court of India's directive in December last year, ordering the Election Commission of India to hold the legislative assembly elections in J&K by September 30 this year.
Athawale noted that elections are scheduled to be held in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh before October. He stated, "Before October, statehood can be restored, and elections would also happen in October."
He echoed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s previous assurance, given during the abrogation of Article 370, that statehood would be restored to J&K.
Highlighting positive developments in the UT since the revocation of the special provision in August 2019, Athawale applauded the high voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and the flourishing tourism sector.
"More than 2.11 crore tourists, including foreigners, have visited here. People don’t fear going to Kashmir now. Earlier, they wanted to come but terrorism was stopping them. Now, the LG told me that peace is prevailing despite some incidents,” he added.
Athawale also shared that over 2 lakh pre and post-matric scholarships have been awarded to SC students and more than 84,000 to OBC students in J&K. He noted, "SC and OBC constitute 8 per cent each in J&K, but there is not a single SC family in Kashmir."
Around 74 cases were registered under the Atrocities Act against SC and OBCs and currently 16 old-age homes across J&K have been set up, with plans to establish one in each district.
Athawale revealed that his party, the Republican Party of India, would field at least 10-15 candidates in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly polls.
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