New Delhi: PM Modi on Thursday chaired an all-party meeting with 14 leaders of 8 political parties of Jammu and Kashmir. The discussion went on for about three and a half hours.
Emphasizing on the restoration of democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi told the leaders that assembly elections will be held in the erstwhile state as soon as the delimitation exercise is over.
After the meeting, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti told reporters that the meeting went well and appreciated the prime minister for starting informal talks with Pakistan. This led to a ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) and the level of infiltration came down. He said, ‘I have requested the Prime Minister that if need be, we can once again talk to Pakistan to take the peace process forward. On abrogation of Article 370, Mehbooba said her party would continue to fight for its restoration.
“After all, special status has not been given to us by Pakistan. It was given to us by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel. We will continue to fight for restoration of special status by legal and constitutional means,” he added .
BJP delegation opposes talks with Pakistan
Opposing talks with Pakistan till the export of terrorism to Jammu and Kashmir stops, a BJP delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir President Ravinder Raina at an all-party meeting said violence should be meted out to those seeking engagement with the neighboring country. Must meet the victims so that their understanding of pain.
The delegation called upon Jammu and Kashmir to intensify efforts to root out the “spirit of Pakistan, separatism and terrorism” so as to provide a peaceful environment to the Indian people at the core of its “heart, blood and DNA”. told PTI at the end of the meeting.
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“J&K should get full statehood”: Ghulam Nabi Azad
In a conversation with ABP News, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that full statehood should be restored in Jammu and Kashmir and elections should be held there. “Arrangements should be made to bring back Kashmiri Pandits. They should be guaranteed employment.
“In Assam and the North East, it was announced that there would be a delimitation but it was stopped before the elections in Assam. So it can happen here too,” he said.
It is said that the Home Minister, while replying to this, said that there was no increase or decrease in the Lok Sabha seats of those states. But in case of J&K, seven seats will be increased as there were four seats in Ladakh which will be added and three more which were increased earlier. So from 87, J&K is now going to have 90 seats in Parliament. A total of 7 seats will be increased through the delimitation process.
Further, NC leader Omar Abdullah, while speaking to reporters, said: “We told the PM that we do not stand with what was done on August 5, 2019. We are not ready to accept it. But we do not. Will take the law in (our) hands. We will fight it in court. We also told the PM that there has been a breach of trust between the state and the Centre. It is the center’s duty to restore it”.
The meeting, which was held to chalk out future political action in Jammu and Kashmir, was convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was attended by 14 leaders from the union territory. The meeting came a day after the Election Commission held virtual discussions with its representatives and Deputy Commissioners in Jammu and Kashmir regarding the delimitation of 90 assembly constituencies in the Union Territory.
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