"I cannot be certain of the National Conference's true motive, but it seems this is less a genuine campaign for statehood and more an exercise aimed at burying Articles 370 and 35A for good, leaving statehood as a secondary and diminished consolation prize," Lone told reporters in Srinagar.
He said his party's position had not changed and that the pre-August 5, 2019 status of Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370, Article 35A and full statehood remained paramount, with Article 370 being the most important of the three.
Questioning the NC's approach, Lone said the ideal course would be for the Omar Abdullah government to convene an emergency session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and pass a resolution seeking restoration of statehood.
"Then we should go as an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. If statehood is still not restored, then we can move on to other options," he said, adding that his party would join any such agitation if constitutional avenues failed.
Lone said major political decisions in a democracy require consensus and not unilateral calls for protests.
Recalling the events preceding the abrogation of Article 370, he said Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah had travelled to Delhi in early August 2019 without taking other political parties into confidence, only for a photograph with the Prime Minister to emerge the next day along with assurances that nothing would change. Those assurances, he said, were rendered meaningless within 48 hours when Article 370 was revoked.
He said the National Conference had never publicly confronted the Central leadership over what transpired in that meeting or over the assurances that, according to him, proved false.
Lone said the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly may have lost many of its earlier powers but continues to be the constitutional voice of the people. It was, therefore, unacceptable, he said, that no resolution on restoration of statehood had been passed by the House in nearly two years.
He also referred to an amendment he had moved during the Lieutenant Governor's address on February 3, 2025, seeking the restoration of Article 370, Article 35A and statehood. According to him, the amendment was rejected by voice vote, with National Conference members joining BJP legislators in opposing it.
Lone said bypassing the Assembly and taking the issue directly to Jantar Mantar would reduce the demand for statehood to a contest between the BJP and the Opposition at the national level, depriving the people of Jammu and Kashmir of their central role in deciding their own political future.