First Off The Block: National Conference Takes The Lead ; Omar Abdullah Releases Party Manifesto With 12 Promises ; Article 370 Restoration, Statehood Also Figure Prominently

The National Conference has literally taken the lead ahead of other parties in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.  It has announced it’s manifesto already . There are as many as 12 guarantees in it.

Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference’s 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.

As per report by PTI, Releasing the manifesto at a press conference in Srinagar, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah said the party is making only those promises it can deliver. He described the manifesto as the NC’s vision document and a roadmap for governance.

The manifesto makes 12 broad promises, including striving for the full implementation of the Autonomy Resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000.

“We strive to restore (Articles) 370-35A, and statehood as prior to August 5, 2019,” the NC poll document said.

In the interim period, “We will endeavour to redraw the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, and the Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Rules, 2019”, it said.

The manifesto has promised that the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, in its first list of business after elections, will pass a resolution against the Centre’s decision to strip the region of its statehood and special status.

The NC said it will make efforts to modify, annul, and repeal post-August 5, 2019, laws that impact the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

It also pledged to protect the land and employment rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, encourage dialogue between India and Pakistan, and make efforts to secure the release of prisoners languishing in jails.

The Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The NC manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls also promised to seek amnesty for all political prisoners and dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley.

Free 200 units of electricity, relief from power and water crisis, transfer of hydro-electric power projects to Jammu and Kashmir and providing 12 LPG cylinders to the economically weaker sections each year for free are among the other pledges made by the party in its poll document.