Back from Delhi, Farooq Abdullah to chair Gupkar alliance meeting on June 29

Sources said the meeting tomorrow has been called to discuss the issues that emerged at the recently-held all-party meeting in Delhi

The constituents of an alliance formed in Jammu & Kashmir last year for the restoration of the region’s special status will meet in Srinagar on Tuesday to deliberate upon its strategy in the wake of the June 24 meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

National Conference president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah will chair the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) meeting at his Gupkar residence in Srinagar at 11 am on Tuesday.

CPI (M) senior leader, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, who is the spokesperson of the alliance, confirmed the meeting, saying, “We couldn’t meet each other after meeting the Prime Minister. After coming back, we decided to hold a meeting and exchange our notes on the meeting.”

“As some leaders of the PAGD were not part of the meeting with the PM, we will brief them about the developments that happened in New Delhi," he added.

Asked what the agenda of the latest meeting is, he said there is no specific agenda. However, sources said the meeting has been called to discuss the issues that emerged at the recently held all-party neeting in Delhi.

“The PAGD leaders are under pressure as nothing concrete came out of their meeting with the PM. To exhibit unity, the latest meeting has been called,” sources said.

Fourteen leaders of eight political parties - the NC, PDP, BJP, Congress, Apni Party, CPI (M), People's Conference, and the Panthers Party – held a meeting with PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting, the first such exercise between the Centre and the political leadership from Kashmir since August 5, 2019 - when the Centre revoked the special status of J&K and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories - ended along expected lines, with the PM urging the parties to get on board with delimitation to enable Assembly elections.

Four leaders from the PAGD, including Abdullah, his son Omar, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and Tarigami were among the 14 leaders who met the PM on June 24. The PAGD is an alliance of NC, PDP, CPM, Peoples Movement and Awami National Conference, formed in October last by Kashmir-centric leaders with a pledge towards restoration of the special status of J&K.