Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Thursday that changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from state to Union Territory (UT) was a "constitutional misdemeanour" and it was the right time to restore statehood.
His comments came a day after National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took oath as the Chief Minister of J&K, heading the first elected government in the UT since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
J&K has had transformative changes in the past six years, while infrastructure and development initiatives have surged under the current dispensation.
On the other hand, inflation, cost of energy bills, and a less representative setup had also increased the problems of the common people.
Abdullah, 54, was sworn in along with five other ministers, three from Jammu region and two from Kashmir Valley.
In his post on X, Sibal said, "It was a constitutional misdemeanour to have reduced the state of J&K to a Union Territory. It was wrong for the Supreme Court not to have decided that issue.
"Time to restore statehood. This is the constitutional right of the people of J&K," the former Union Minister asserted.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Abdullah and his ministers at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre along the banks of the Dal Lake on Wednesday.
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