A delegation of the National Conference (NC), led by Srinagar MP and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and comprised his son and also former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to press for Assembly elections by the year-end and amid growing speculation that the Centre may be mulling some precipitate action on abrogation of Article 35A.
Mr. Omar Abdullah told media after the meeting that they sought time with the Prime Minister to apprise him of the situation in the State. “We had sought time from Prime Minister Modi to tell him about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. There had been tension in the Valley in the last few days, and we wanted to tell him about that. We requested him that no step which affects the environment there should be taken,” he said.
The State is under President’s rule after the BJP pulled out of the coalition with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr. Abdullah said it had been “one and a half years since a popularly elected government ruled the State and the NC wanted elections held before the year ended. “People should be given a chance to make a decision. We [NC] will accept the mandate, whatever it may be,” he added.
The NC’s demand for early polls is significant in that the BJP recently held a meeting of its core group on Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi. At the meeting, BJP working president J.P. Nadda asked the State unit to be prepared for polls. National vice president of the party Avinash Rai Khanna has been appointed in charge of the State polls.
