Omar Abdullah Administration Unveils Initial Bill in Assembly

Synopsis

On March 22, the Omar Abdullah administration in Jammu & Kashmir introduced its first bill in the Assembly to amend the UT's Goods and Services Tax, aligning it with Central law. The bill focuses on regulatory changes without incurring additional costs.

Key Takeaways

First bill introduced by Omar Abdullah government.
Amendment aims to align J&K GST with Central law.
Regulatory changes without financial implications.
Statehood restoration resolution passed by new Assembly.
Political landscape includes support from various parties.

Jammu, March 22 (NationPress) The Omar Abdullah administration in Jammu & Kashmir presented its inaugural bill in the Assembly on Saturday, aimed at modifying the Union Territory's Goods and Services Tax to ensure it aligns with Central legislation.

Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary, on behalf of Chief Minister and Finance Minister Omar Abdullah, introduced the Jammu & Kashmir Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025 during the session.

This bill seeks to synchronize J&K’s GST framework with the modifications made to the Central Goods and Services Tax regulations.

The adjustments are primarily regulatory, targeting tax governance, and consequently, the bill does not entail recurring or non-recurring financial outlays.

Following the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution on August 5, 2019, the region was bifurcated into two Union Territories: J&K and Ladakh.

Since the implementation of Central rule in J&K in 2018, the legislative authority of the J&K Assembly has been transferred to the Parliament. The Assembly elections, which took place last year after a six-year hiatus, resulted in the formation of a new legislative body.

During its inaugural session, the new J&K Assembly adopted a resolution advocating for the restoration of statehood to the UT.

In the recent elections, the National Conference (NC) secured 42 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 29, Congress obtained six, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed three, and other parties like Peoples Conference, CPI-M, Awami Ittehad Party, and Aam Aadmi Party each took one seat. Additionally, independents captured six seats out of a total of 90.

Subsequently, five independents allied with the NC, while Congress, CPI-M, and AAP are providing external support to the Omar Abdullah government.

Omar Abdullah has taken the resolution for statehood restoration to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, both of whom have indicated that statehood will be reinstated to J&K at a suitable time. It seems that Omar Abdullah has chosen to await the Centre's fulfillment of its pledge rather than pursue a confrontational approach with Delhi regarding this matter.