Srinagar, Sept 23 (KNS): Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary on Tuesday said that the elected government in the Union Territory is facing many challenges but continues to fight for the rights of the people despite its “limited powers.”

“There are some people who want us to resign. But we are not among those who run away. We are workers of Sher-e-Kashmir, we will struggle and fight for the rights of the people. We will not show our backs,” Choudhary told reporters in Ganderbal district.

Responding to a question on fulfilling election promises, the deputy chief minister said the government is working within restrictions.
“You have to understand that we do not have a state government. The gift we got from the PDP in the past, the special status and statehood we lost because of them, has left us with a UT government with limited resources and limited powers. We still have a dual system — an elected government and an appointed administration,” he said.

Choudhary said that despite these hurdles, the National Conference-led government is committed to people’s welfare.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
“We will fulfil all the promises made by NC president Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. We have been given a mandate for five years, not 10 months. Then you can ask us which promises we fulfilled and which we did not,” he added.

On the issue of statehood and restoration of Article 35A, Choudhary said these were discussed in the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
“We have reiterated our stand on statehood. Leave aside statehood, the LG sahib seems to have slept over the business rules. Your questions are very genuine, but you must understand the circumstances,” he said, according to KNS.

He also accused the BJP and PDP of neglecting development during their coalition rule.
“The PDP and BJP claim they did a lot of development work in J&K. If that was true, why are people still stuck in traffic jams? We are not going to sit idle just because the PDP, BJP or LG administration did nothing,” he said.(KNS)