Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in Srinagar on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, escalating their protest against the statehood restoration resolution that the House had passed a day earlier. The walkout signals a deepening political confrontation between the ruling National Conference-led government and the opposition BJP over the constitutional future of the union territory.

What Triggered the Walkout

Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma again raised objections to the Speaker's conduct in the House on Tuesday, including a fresh demand for the removal of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather. The BJP accused Rather of allowing discussion on the statehood resolution despite the party's formal objections — specifically, its opposition to references to the 2000 autonomy resolution and the 2024 special status resolution embedded in the text.

The Speaker had acknowledged that the BJP had moved a notice seeking his removal, but told the House that under established procedure, any such motion could only be listed 14 days after the notice was received — effectively allowing proceedings to continue.

What Happened in the Assembly on Monday

The statehood resolution, moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, was passed on Monday, 28 September 2026 amid considerable disruption. BJP members entered the well of the House and held a mock proceeding in protest. Despite the din, Abdullah delivered his speech and the resolution was passed by the House.

In a notable aside during that speech, the Chief Minister disclosed that the law secretary had written to the Assembly Speaker offering an opinion against the resolution — and that this had occurred without the knowledge of the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, who, Abdullah noted, was himself. 'This could only happen because we are a union territory,' he said, framing the incident as evidence of the administrative constraints J&K faces under its current constitutional status.

The Chief Secretary had also reportedly written to the Speaker on the matter without informing the Chief Minister, according to Abdullah's statement to the House.

What Happens Next

Following its passage, the Legislative Assembly secretariat has forwarded the statehood resolution to the Chief Secretary, ostensibly for transmission to the Central government. Whether and how the Centre responds will determine the resolution's practical effect, as statehood restoration requires action at the Union level.

Notably, this is not the first time the J&K Assembly has passed resolutions touching on the territory's constitutional status — the 2000 autonomy resolution preceded the current dispute by over two decades and was similarly contentious. The BJP's sustained opposition, including its call for the Speaker's removal, suggests the stand-off is likely to continue into the next sitting.

Political Context

The confrontation comes at a sensitive moment in J&K's political calendar. The National Conference, which leads the government, has made the restoration of statehood a central campaign commitment. The BJP, which governed J&K as a union territory and broadly supported its bifurcation and downgrading from full statehood in 2019, has consistently resisted moves that it argues reopen settled constitutional questions or invoke resolutions it considers regressive.

The walkout and the Speaker standoff have added a procedural dimension to what is fundamentally a dispute about J&K's long-term constitutional standing — a question that ultimately rests with New Delhi, not Srinagar.