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Jammu-Kashmir polls after redrawing constituencies: PM Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told a group of leaders from Jammu and Kashmir that assembly elections there will be held after the completion of the ongoing delimitation exercise, People's Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig said after a crucial meeting to chalk out the future course of action in the union territory
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told a group of leaders from Jammu and Kashmir that assembly elections there will be held after the completion of the ongoing delimitation exercise, People's Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig said after a crucial meeting to chalk out the future course of action in the union territory.
During the three-and-a-half-hour-long meeting, almost all the 14 leaders from Jammu and Kashmir demanded that its statehood, which was removed in August 2019, should be restored, he said.
According to official sources, the main focus of the meeting was to strengthen the democratic process and the prime minister said that the government was fully committed to it. This is the first interaction between the central leadership and the mainstream parties since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated it into union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Modi stressed that holding assembly elections, just like the successful conduct of the District Development Council polls, is a priority and that the polls can happen soon after the delimitation exercise, the sources said, adding that by and large most participants expressed willingness for it.
The prime minister stressed that an atmosphere of safety and security needs to be ensured for all sections of society in Jammu and Kashmir and he wanted to remove 'Dilli ki Duri as well as 'Dil Ki Duri' (distance from Delhi as well as distance of heart), according to the sources.
"The meeting was very cordial and very positive, very dignified. We all agreed that we must work for the democracy. The prime minister has assured that he will do everything to make Jammu and Kashmir a zone of peace rather than a zone of conflict," Baig told reporters after the meeting.
