Omar Abdullah said that he had received an invitation and would go along the direction of the party chief
NEWS18, NEW DELHI, June 19, 2021 :Day after the Centre reportedly began sending feelers to political party leaders from Jammu and Kashmir for an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on June 24, as many as 14 leaders, including four former chief ministers of the erstwhile state, got calls from the Prime Minister’s Office today, sources said.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reportedly reached out to these leaders to invite them to the meeting at the prime minister’s residence to discuss the future course of action for the union territory, the officials said.
National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and son Omar Abdullah, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, were among those who got the call, sources said.
Four former deputy chief ministers of the erstwhile state — Congress leader Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, and BJP leaders Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta — too have been invited to the meet.
Former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, Who Recently Tested Covid-19 Positive, Hospitalised for Better Care
Former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, Who Recently Tested Covid-19 Positive, Hospitalised for Better Care
In addition, CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, J-K Congress head G A Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina, and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh have been invited to the meeting.
The meeting — the first such exercise since the Centre announced the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into union territories in August 2019 — is likely to be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders.
When contacted, Omar Abdullah said that he had received an invitation and would go along the direction of the party chief. Sources in the National Conference said that over the next few days, the senior Abdullah will be holding consultations with party leaders. The Political Affairs Committee of the PDP would also be meeting on Sunday to take a decision about the talks. (News 18)