National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah took a dig at Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday over his remarks that Article 370 of the Constitution will not be restored, and urged him not to presume what the Supreme Court judges would decide on the matter. "Dear Ravi Shankar Prasad ji, we don't expect you to restore anything but unless you are suggesting the Supreme Court has surrendered its independence & takes dictation from you please don't presume to know what the Hon judges will decide (sic)," Abdullah wrote on Twitter.

Prasad, the Union Law Minister, on Saturday said that the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 will not be restored. The Supreme Court is hearing multiple petitions filed by several mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC, against the Union government's August 5, 2019 decision to revoke the special status of the erstwhile state. 

Dear Ravi Shankar Prasad ji, we don’t expect you to restore anything but unless you are suggesting the Supreme Court has surrendered its independence & takes dictation from you please don’t presume to know what the Hon judges will decide. https://t.co/s8rD3Us6JU

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 25, 2020

Besides Omar and his father, Farooq Abdullah, another former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti has also been upping the ante against the Union government.

On Friday, Mufti said that she won't raise any other flag till the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is restored. "Our relationship with our national flag is not independent of the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. When we get that flag, we will raise the Indian flag as well," she said.

However, the Union government is unlikely to soften its stand. Speaking on the eve of India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told IANS, "This is about the nation, not politics. The status quo of seven long decades clearly could not fulfill people's aspirations. The greatest casualty was the lack of any proper economic avenues to increase earnings. Our approach is different -- instead of the vicious cycle of poverty, the people need more economic opportunities."

With IANS and PTI inputs