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Mehbooba Mufti likely to meet PM Modi amid debate over Article 35A
The meeting is being viewed as a major political development as the coalition partners PDP and BJP are not on the same page regarding the issue.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is expected to leave for New Delhi on Thursday amid a debate on an article in the Constitution which grants special privileges to the state.
According to local news agencies in Srinagar, Mufti is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders to discuss the political fallout of abrogation of Article 35A.
Mufti is also likely to meet leaders of other political parties to apprise them of the fallout .
Article 35A, added to the Indian Constitution through a presidential order of 1954, empowers the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define the state’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.
The Article has come under focus recently after two Kashmiri women approached the Supreme Court, challenging it as they contended that it had disenfranchised their children.
At a recent event in Delhi, Mufti said if Article 35A was tinkered with, there will be no one in Kashmir to uphold the national flag.
Opposition political parties have suggested to Mufti to lead an all-party delegation to the PM over the issue.
The chief minister has called on NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, JKPCC president GA Mir and other opposition leaders in the last two days over the issue.
The meeting is being viewed as a major political development as the coalition partners PDP and BJP are not on the same page regarding the issue.
