Centre will respond at appropriate time on J&K statehood: Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad, Oct 11: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Friday said that the Centre would respond at an appropriate time to the demand for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.

However, he asserted Article 370 will not come back to Jammu and Kashmir.

He was responding to a query on National Conference seeking restoration of statehood during an informal interaction with mediapersons here.

Reddy, who was incharge of BJP for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, said with the efforts of the Centre, the elections were conducted peacefully and there was also no necessity to conduct a repoll.

The BJP’s performance was ‘creditworthy’ and it got more seats than in the past, he said.

The polling percentages in J&K were higher than even in Hyderabad (Assembly polls) where only about 50 per cent of voter turnout was registered, the union minister for coal and mines, said.

He further said the District Development Council (DDC) and Block Development Council (BDC) polls were also held successfully in Jammu and Kashmir.

The National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. In the 90-member Assembly, the National Conference won 42 seats, BJP 29, Congress 6, PDP 3 and the rest of the constituencies were won by others including independents (7).

Reddy expressed confidence that the BJP would win the coming Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

On the ongoing efforts of the Telangana government for rejuvenation of the Musi river and demolition of illegal structures in Hyderabad, he opposed the demolition of houses of the poor.