14 J-K leaders invited to meet with PM Modi in Delhi to discuss future course

Jammu and kashmir Polity and Governance

14-Jun-21

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Invitations were sent out to 14 political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers, for participation in a high-level meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on June 24, which is expected to set the road map for holding assembly elections there.
These leaders of eight political parties—the National Conference (NC), PDP, BJP, Congress, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, CPI(M), People’s Conference, and the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party—were telephonically invited by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla for participation in the meeting to be held at the prime minister’s residence.
This will be the prime minister’s first interaction with all the political parties of Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, 2019 when the Centre abrogated special the state’s status and bifurcated it into union territories. The erstwhile state has been under the Centre’s rule since November 2018.
Officials said the Centre is keen on holding assembly elections in the union territory as early as possible, likely to be held either in December or March next year after the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (retd) Ranjana Desai completes its task of redrawing constituencies in the next few months. The Commission was granted one year’s extension in March this year.
Among those invited are 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 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.
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 Ravidner Raina, and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh have been invited to the meeting.
The meeting convened by the prime minister is in accordance with the wishes of heads of various political parties who have been seeking time from him and demanding such a meeting for a long time.
The Union Home Minister, while tabling the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 in Parliament, gave an assurance that the Centre would grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
The talks come seven months after the District Development Council elections in the Union Territory.
In the District development Council elections last year, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) surged way ahead of the BJP and its allies, including the JKAP, by bagging 110 seats out of 280 with the National Conference emerging stronger with 67 seats within the alliance. The BJP was the single largest party with 75 seats.
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is an amalgam of six parties that was formed in the aftermath of the Centre’s August 2019 decisions.