India, Nov. 4 -- The Omar Abdullah ministry took oath in October last year in an atmosphere of hope, and on the promise that statehood for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) would be restored. That has not happened in these many months. In an interview with this newspaper, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah elaborated how the absence of statehood and executive powers - these remain with the lieutenant governor (LG) - has reduced the elected government to a toothless entity. His concerns are valid. Two issues need immediate redress. One, the powers between the elected government and the LG's office need to be clearly defined and separated, at least until there is closure on the matter of statehood. Considering that J&K is a border state and a constant target of Pakistan's terror proxies, the Centre may want to centralise all the executive powers in the LG's office. This is a flawed approach and can only result in alienating elected representatives from their constituents. That does not augur well for democracy in J&K. If security concerns following the April Pahalgam terror strike are bothering the Centre, it could entrust the LG's office with the task of internal security management. (It is a different matter that the Pahalgam attack took place under LG Manoj Sinha's watch). The task of managing the day-to-day administration should be left to the elected government. That will help draw in local participation in administration and make governance more accessible. A political audit of administration is possible only when elected representatives are involved in governance. Two, a time frame needs to be discussed for the restoration of statehood. The Centre had told the Supreme Court that it is in consultations with the state government. In fact, the Centre had given an undertaking to the Court that statehood would be restored. This process must not be allowed to be held hostage to Pakistan's machinations. Full statehood for J&K is both a political and legal promise. The premise of an elected legislative body is to have public representatives as the interface between citizens and the executive. Such an arrangement can ease governance and prevent public alienation from the State apparatus. The UT elections, five years after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the first since 2014, saw an exceptional 63.90% turnout. It was perceived as an act of trust by the people in electoral democracy and seen as a fresh start to rebuild J&K and enable a politics of healing and hope. That opportunity should not be lost....