New Delhi, July 17 -- Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for a legislation in Parliament's upcoming Monsoon session to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, and extend the Sixth Schedule protection to Ladakh. In a joint letter, the leaders of opposition in the two houses of Parliament, said, "For five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently demanded restoration of full statehood. This demand is legitimate and rooted in their constitutional and democratic rights." They also cited past examples of Union territories being upgraded to states, adding that Jammu and Kashmir's case is "without precedent" - the first time a state has been downgraded to a Union territory post-bifurcation. Kharge and Gandhi reminded PM Modi of his public commitments to restore statehood. "In your Bhubaneswar interview on May 19, 2024, you said, 'Restoring statehood is a solemn promise we have made.' Again, in Srinagar on September 19, 2024, you said, 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood,'" they wrote. "In view of the foregoing and aforementioned, we urge upon the government to bring forward a legislation in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," Kharge and Gandhi wrote."Additionally, we request that the government bring forward legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution," they added. Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019, when the state was bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh through the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. The Supreme Court, while upholding the abrogation in December 2023, directed the government to restore statehood "as soon as possible". Restoration of statehood has also been a key electoral plank of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and his party, the National Conference. In October 2024, Abdullah's cabinet passed a formal resolution demanding the return of full statehood to J&K. In June 2025, amid reports of fresh elections, Abdullah declared his willingness to resign as CM and dissolve the assembly if it would facilitate statehood. "The day the Government of India restores statehood to J&K, I will, the very next day, ask the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Assembly. Don't try to intimidate us. Statehood is our right, and we demand it," he said, accusing the government of using election rumours to "scare MLAs." Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi for writing a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding restoration of statehood to the union territory. Responding to media queries here on the sidelines of a function, Omar said, "We are repeatedly told that J&K will be given statehood at an appropriate time. Even the Supreme Court while delivering its decision (on petitions challenging revocation of Article 370) has stated that it (statehood) will be restored as soon as possible and that it should be given at the earliest." The chief minister thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP Rahul Gandhi for writing a letter to the PM. "This is a good thing. I thank Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi for raising this issue. We are not demanding anything that has not been promised to us before. We have been told many times that we will be given statehood at the right time," he said. He further said that the statehood was promised to the J&K within the Parliament, outside Parliament, Supreme Court and at various public forums. Meanwhile, the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee expressed gratitude to the party high command for raising the demand before the PM....