The National Conference will move the Supreme Court if there is an inordinate delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, party chief Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday, PTI reported.

After a party meeting, Farooq Abdullah said that the residents of the Union Territory wanted their issues resolved immediately after the Assembly elections in October but “statehood [not being restored] is stopping us”.

“We are waiting for statehood,” The Hindu quoted the National Conference chief as saying. “If there are delays, we will have no option but to go to the Supreme Court. I am hopeful that when statehood is restored, we will get [more] powers.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre had abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, in August 2019. It also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 2019 order abrogating Article 370 and ordered the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

On November 6, the Assembly passed a resolution calling for the restoration of the special status that the erstwhile state had under Article 370.

Through the resolution, the Assembly had sought to reaffirm the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees that “safeguarded the identity, culture and rights of the people” of Jammu and Kashmir and “expresses concern over their unilateral removal”.

The MLAs had also urged the Union government to “initiate dialogue with elected representatives” of the Union Territory “to work out constitutional mechanisms” for the restoration of special status and the constitutional guarantee.

In January, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he wanted to give the Centre the “first opportunity” to restore the Union Territory’s statehood before seeking legal recourse.

The National Conference leader told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself committed to restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. “Every government or every individual has recourse to courts,” Omar Abdullah said. “But that was never going to be our first option.”

“The biggest promise the Central government made to J&K [ahead of the elections] is restoration of statehood,” Abdullah said. “When the Supreme Court gave its verdict…it said that statehood should be restored ‘as soon as possible’. It has been a year and we believe that that’s enough.”

Farooq Abdullah’s remarks on Saturday also came a day after the chief minister reiterated the demand for statehood, saying that “he was still waiting for the prime minister to fulfil his promise”, The Hindu reported.