Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting of all political parties from Jammu & Kashmir on the 24th of this month in New Delhi. Centre has invited 14 political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers.
The political leaders received the invite for the meeting over the phone. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reached out to the J&K leaders to invite them to the meeting at PM’s residence to discuss the future course of action for the Union territory.
This is the first such exercise since the Centre’s decision of revoking Article 370 — a provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir — and its bifurcation into Union territories in August 2019.
The leaders invited to the meeting include four former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. Four former deputy chief ministers — Congress leader Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, and BJP leaders Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta are among others who have been invited to the meet.
CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, JK Congress head G A Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina, and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh, too have received an invite for the meeting.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders are also likely to be present at the meeting. The meeting is said to be a part of the Centre’s initiatives to strengthen political processes in the union territory.
Earlier on Friday, Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and top security officials met in the national capital to discuss various issues regarding Jammu and Kashmir with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.