Centre in touch with J&K parties, top-level meet likely in Delhi in coming weeks: sources

The talks in Delhi are likely to revolve around the return of Statehood status to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the early Assembly election for now.

Twenty months after the Centre ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional position, a serious spadework is on, for the first time, to rope in the mainstream political parties of the Union Territory (UT), especially Kashmir-based grouping Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), to engage with New Delhi and meet the top leadership of the ruling BJP in the coming weeks. Top sources privy to the parleys on the backchannels told The Hindu that “people mandated by the Centre are in touch with the top leaders of the regional political parties of J&K for many weeks”. It included the region’s oldest political party National Conference (NC), whose president Farooq Abdullah also heads the Gupkar alliance. Besides, Peoples Conference’s Sajad Lone and J&K Apni Party’s Altaf Bukhari may also be taken on board to make a headway in Kashmir, where the situation has not changed favourably since the August 5, 2019 move by the Centre to abrogate all special provisions of Article 370.