Centre’s step-motherly treatment of non-BJP governments insults people’s mandate: Gupta
18/08/2026
Jammu, Aug 17: Senior National Conference leader and Provincial President Jammu Rattan Lal Gupta on Monday accused the BJP-led Union Government of adopting a "step-motherly" approach towards governments elected with a popular mandate but not belonging to the BJP.
Gupta was interacting with party functionaries and workers at the newly shifted Jammu provincial office of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference at Gandhi Nagar. The party office has been shifted from Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan.
He said such an approach was politically unfortunate and amounted to dishonouring the mandate of the people and weakening the democratic and federal spirit of the Constitution.
"The Centre must respect the verdict of the electorate irrespective of which political party forms the government," Gupta said.
Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, he said people had participated in the Assembly elections and elected their representatives, while the demand for restoration of full statehood remained pending.
"Denying statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is, in effect, denying the people the full constitutional and democratic framework of a State. The people of J&K should not be treated differently from citizens of other States," he said.
Gupta maintained that an elected government must be provided adequate constitutional space and authority to discharge its responsibilities towards the people.
"Democracy does not mean merely holding elections; it also means respecting the mandate that emerges from those elections," he said.
He urged the Union Government to honour its commitment and restore full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir without further delay, saying the Assembly elections had provided an even stronger democratic basis for returning the region to full statehood.
Gupta also appealed to the Centre to rise above party politics and strengthen the federal structure by ensuring equal treatment to all elected governments.
Among those present were former minister and Additional General Sec-retary Jammu Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Provincial Secretary Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, Ayub Malik, former minister Babu Rampal, former MLA Qazi Jalal Ud Din, former MLA Bimla Luthra, SC Cell Chairman Vijay Lochan, OBC Cell Chairman Abdul Gani Teli,
Women Wing Working President Rajni Devi, former DDC Ramban chairperson Dr Shamshad Shanj, Jammu Urban District President Chander Mohan Sharma, Jammu Rural B District President Naresh Bittu and Central Zone Vice-President Rakesh Singh Raka.
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