The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly criticized the recently announced Jammu and Kashmir Budget 2025-26, accusing the National Conference-led government of deceiving the public by not fulfilling its election promises.
In a statement, a copy of which lies with news agency NewsEye, the PDP said the budget exposes the “massive gap between promises and reality”, particularly regarding the commitment of 200 units of free electricity to every household, a key promise made by the National Conference during its election campaign.
“The government had created high hopes among the people by promising free electricity to all households. However, the budget announcement has reduced this benefit to only AAY ration card holders, leaving out the majority of the population,” the statement read.
According to the PDP, out of 16 lakh ration card holders in J&K, only 95,000 AAY card holders will receive the benefit — approximately 5-7% of the total population. The party further alleged that 1.27 lakh AAY card holders were removed from the list just before the announcement, raising questions about the government’s intentions.
“This selective approach exposes their anti-people policies. If they truly wanted to help the people, they should have implemented the scheme as promised — for all households, not just a small fraction,” the PDP added.
The party accused the government of using the promise as an “election gimmick” to secure votes and demanded that the administration expand the scheme to cover all households in line with their election manifesto.
The budget was announced by Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who is also the Finance Minister.
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