Intra-party consultations on for 2nd day in Jammu and Kashmir over invite for PM meeting

The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) -- a six-party alliance of mainstream parties which came into existence after the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 -- will meet at National Conference president Farooq Abdullah's residence on Tuesday to discuss the invite.

Srinagar:With the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) scheduled to meet on Tuesday, intra-party consultations in Jammu and Kashmir continued for a second day on Monday to discuss the Centre's invitation for an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24.

The PAGD -- a six-party alliance of mainstream parties which came into existence after the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 -- will meet at National Conference president Farooq Abdullah's residence Tuesday to discuss the invite.

While PDP has authorised its president Mehbooba Mufti to take a final call on the party's participation in the all-party meet, the grouping is expected to come up with a joint strategy after the meeting. The PM's meeting with the political parties from Jammu and Kashmir is part of the Centre's initiatives to bolster political processes, including holding assembly elections, in the union territory.

Read:Will the political parties of Jammu and Kashmir be able to have their say in the all-party meeting?

The National Conference (NC) said on Monday it was good that the Centre had realised that things will not work in the union territory without the local mainstream.

"We have been saying that nothing has changed on the ground for the last two years. It is good that they have this realisation that things will not work here without the local mainstream. All their huge promises have turned hollow on the ground and nothing has been achieved," NC provincial president, Kashmir, Nasir Aslam Wani, told reporters here.

Wani said the change from "demonizing" the mainstream parties in J-K to inviting them for talks was good".

"It is a good change. As much and how much you can demonise the mainstream of J-K, you cannot do without it because the mainstream in J-K has always proven.

Read:Congress, BJP panels on Jammu and Kashmir to meet today ahead of all-party meeting with PM Modi

"For that matter, the NC, being the premier political party of the erstwhile state, has that grassroots reach, without its involvement in such kind of dialogues and such kinds of conference, you cannot go ahead," he said.

PTI