Congress demands immediate restoration of Jammu and Kashmir statehood

The Congress on Wednesday called for the immediate and unconditional restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, along with complete constitutional authority for the Union Territory's elected government, National Herald reported. The demand fell on the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. Congress general secretary Syed Naseer Hussain said the government had justified the 2019 move as a transitional four-stage plan, reorganisation, delimitation, elections and restoration of statehood, and that while the first three stages were done, neither the prime minister nor the home minister had named a date or introduced legislation for the final step despite repeated assurances since then. Hussain accused the Lieutenant Governor of continuing to exercise overriding authority over key matters even as the elected government functions with limited powers, calling it a calculated inversion of federalism. Congress MPs staged a march in Parliament on Wednesday pressing the same demands, plus safeguards for residents' land and job rights. No government response featured in the report.