File photo- Omar Abdullah

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said Thursday the “Darbar” move tradition would be restored soon, announcing the move to mark a year of his National Conference (NC) government and stressing that he was fulfilling his promise to Jammu’s people.The tradition involves rotating J&K’s seat of government, with Jammu as the winter capital (November to April) and Srinagar as the summer capital (May to October). The practice dates back to 1872 when Maharaja Gulab Singh, founder-ruler of erstwhile J&K princely state and Maharaja Hari Singh’s ancestor, started it.“The cabinet has taken a decision regarding its (Darbar move’s) restoration and sent it to the lieutenant-governor (Manoj Sinha). The LG has signed and returned the file,” Omar said in Jammu. LG Sinha had halted the practice on June 30, 2021 — almost two years after the abrogation of Article 370.Minister Satish Sharma hailed Omar’s announcement, saying reviving the historic Darbar move will not only boost Jammu’s economy but also help restore “the culture, heritage and glory” of J&K.NC ally Congress welcomed the decision. It pointed out that the revival was a “joint promise” ahead of last year’s assembly elections by the two parties.Apni Party chief Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari joined the chorus. “Resuming the biannual Darbar Move practice is truly a commendable decision. It continues to hold great social, cultural, and economic significance. I congratulate the govt,” Bukhari posted.Speaking earlier, Omar used his govt’s first anniversary to renew his demand for restoration of J&K’s statehood, saying it was the solution to all of the region’s problems. “I would urge PM Narendra Modi that the promise made in Parliament and Supreme Court should be fulfilled. We (NC) even brought a resolution in this regard.”The CM stressed that his government would fulfil all pre-poll promises. “When we sought votes from people, it was for the full five-year term. People have started raising questions but I want to tell them, please ask the questions after five years,” Omar said amid criticism from rivals BJP and PDP.Former CM and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that after the abrogation of Article 370, J&K witnessed “an atmosphere of oppression” under lieutenant governor’s authority, with continuing arrests, frequent raids by various agencies. “Omar’s govt normalised it. He didn’t show resistance and didn’t talk about thousands of Kashmiris languishing in various jails outside J&K.”While Omar spoke about Article 370 before the elections, “he didn’t even mention it after the polls,”, Mehbooba claimed. She accused the CM of “simply following the BJP’s narrative that no one should talk about Article 370 or the Kashmir issue”.Mehbooba urged Omar to “take the cue” on how to execute development works from Arvind Kejriwal when the latter was chief minister of Delhi — a Union territory like J&K is now after Article 370’s scrapping.BJP described the Omar-led govt’s first year as a “failure on all fronts”. Party spokesman Altaf Thakur claimed the NC government had been unable to keep its promise of free electricity, 10kg of rice and one lakh jobs.(Inputs from Naseer Ganai in Srinagar)